Broken
by Keeralie Starflight
Summary: The guilt never goes away...even when everyone told that he didn't kill Light, he had still shot him. When Matsuda thought that he could forget what he had done, everything fell apart for the second time. Someone he has known for a long time dies, and he realizes that this war is far from over. Rated T because it's Death Note, and for character death. Matsu/Sayu, possible Mogi/OC.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Shadowed

He sat at his kitchen table, staring at the bottle of sleeping pills, wondering.

_"If these are supposed to help me sleep, how many does is take to…kill me?"_

They had probably meant well when they told him to try the pills. But they didn't know him. They didn't realize just how much the Kira case had taken out of him. He used to be so naïve. That had all changed the day they won. And also lost. They knew Kira was really Light Yagami. And Matsuda…had lost it. He had completely lost it, and he had shot Light. He had shot the son of the man he had looked up to as a father.

_"I'll kill him! I'll kill him! He has to die!"_

"I said that. I think. I don't know anymore. I shot him. I shot Light..."

Matsuda broke off midsentence, staring at the pills again.

In the days that followed the end of the case, they had all been in shock. Mogi, Aizawa, Ide, and the others had all been affected by it. Only that boy…Near…had seemed all right. He was a kid, and they were police officers, and somehow he was the only one not affected.

Matsuda had spent days in his apartment, not letting anyone in. Not even when Aizawa threatened to break the door down. He didn't eat. Didn't sleep. But then something drove him to live again. Someone. A girl whose father was dead. The girl whose brother he had shot. Sayu Yagami. He went to the Yagami's house, just to see Sayu and her mother, Sachiko Yagami. To see what he had done to them.

Not surprisingly, Sayu barely responded when he came in. She hadn't spoken since she was kidnapped by Mello, more than a year ago. She was still in a wheelchair.

Sachiko was devastated by Light's death, but she welcomed Matsuda in. And that was when he realized. They didn't know. Aizawa must not have told them.

He never wanted to go back to that house. He didn't want to talk about Light, and pretend he hadn't killed him. But something kept drawing him back. Sayu. Something about that girl brought him back to the Yagami residence almost every day. She rarely came out of her room, so he went to her. She never spoke, but he told her everything. How everyone else seemed to be okay, and he was still depressed. It had been a year and a half. He was almost twenty-seven now, and it seemed like he should be moving on.

_"Moving on…to a place where no one can be hurt anymore…and, more important, where I can't hurt anyone…"_

He picked up the bottle, staring at it. He stared at that bottle of pills that would let him sleep…or kill him…and then his cell phone rang.

Matsuda jumped guiltily. He glanced down at the phone. The caller ID read Sachiko Yagami.

_"Could something have happened to Sayu? Oh, please don't let her be hurt!"_

"Hello?" Matsuda asked, "Mrs. Yagami? Is Sayu…?"

"She's talking, Matsuda!" Sachiko cried.

"What?"

"She's talking and she's asking for you! Are you working?"

"N-no, I'll come right now," Matsuda stammered. The man ended the call, and then stood up to head for the door. As he reached for the handle, someone knocked. Matsuda opened the door, and found himself facing Aizawa.

"Hey, Aizawa," Matsuda said cheerfully, "What are you doing here?"

"I just came to check on you," Aizawa replied. The older man frowned.

"Matsuda, what are you doing with those sleeping pills in the middle of the day?"

Matsuda suddenly realized that he was still holding the bottle of pills.

"Err…um…"

"Were you trying to kill yourself again?" Aizawa demanded angrily, "Matsuda, you should know…"

"Actually, I was going to see Sayu Yagami. I guess I grabbed the bottle of pills by mistake."

"All right," Aizawa said, wanting to believe that Matsuda had just accidentally grabbed the pills, even though he doubted it. "I'll drive you over. We can talk on the way. I haven't seen you in a while."

"Okay, Aizawa. You don't have to do that, though. I can drive myself."

The older man ignored him, and Matsuda had no option but to silently follow Aizawa to his car.

The drive to the Yagami's house was completely silent. Matsuda kept expecting Aizawa to confront him about the sleeping pills, but the other man seemed completely focused on his driving.

When they arrived at the place, Matsuda got out of the car. He looked questioningly at Aizawa, who shrugged.

"Go on. I'll leave the window down so I can hear what she says to you."

She…that meant Sachiko. Matsuda hadn't told Aizawa that Sayu had spoken. He had to be sure. He had to see it for himself.

The young man walked slowly to the door. Before knocking, he paused.

_"What if I've come here for nothing? What if Sayu isn't really…?"_

But he had to know. So he knocked. When Sachiko answered the door, Matsuda knew immediately that he had done the right thing to come immediately.

"She wants to see you," Sachiko said simply, "Go to her, Matsuda."

Matsuda didn't need to be told twice. He raced up the stairs and into Sayu's room. She was sitting by the window, still in her wheelchair, but as he came to her, turned her wheelchair round to face him, she smiled. And then she spoke, in a hesitant, quiet voice.

"Matsuda! You…came!"

* * *

It was some hours later when Matsuda rejoined Aizawa in the car.

"I guess you were telling the truth," Aizawa said, "Sorry."

"It's okay," Matsuda said, "To tell you the truth, I was thinking about taking the pills. _All _of the pills."

"What stopped you?" Aizawa asked, "If I were you, a knock on the door wouldn't have stopped me from taking them. Last time I tried, Yumi showed up, so..."

"You…tried to…kill yourself?" Matsuda asked. He was shocked that the seemingly invincible Aizawa would have even thought about such a thing.

"I think everyone involved in the investigation has," Aizawa said grimly, "Mogi, Ide…Misa Amane actually did it… But, Matsuda, you've always been the one who didn't care."

"You always would have shouted at me before," Matsuda replied.

"True. The Kira case…changed us all, didn't it? Especially you."

"You can tell?"

"You barely leave your apartment, except to visit the Yagami girl. I've seen you before when you're depressed and haven't slept in days. You've hit another rough spot."

"Yeah. I keep thinking about him."

"Kira?"

"His name was Light, Aizawa!" Matsuda yelled suddenly. "He wasn't just a suspect! He was our leader's son! Our _dead _leader's son! I shot him, Aizawa! I probably killed him!"

Matsuda buried his head in his hands, shaking.

"Matsuda…"

"Stop the car," Matsuda sobbed.

"What?"

"Stop the car, Aizawa!" Matsuda yelled.

Shocked by his friend's sudden outburst, Aizawa pulled over, hoping he could reason with Matsuda. Before he could speak, the younger man was out of the car and running down the street.

"Matsuda! Get back here! Matsuda!"

* * *

**I don't think this is very good...but my sister claims it is amazing, so...here... We'll see where this goes. :) Please review with sugar on top, you'll make me happy! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Vanishing Act

It was starting to get dark, which just in itself would have made Aizawa want to get home most days. But today, he was not only tired and frustrated…he was worried.

He listened to his cell phone as it rattled off another meaningless message about Matsuda not being available.

"Answer the phone!" Aizawa muttered, "I've called you twenty times, Matsuda!"

He scanned the groups of pedestrians, hoping to see Matsuda doing something obvious and stupid. No luck.

"I'll never find him in the dark," Aizawa growled, "_Why _does he have to run off like this?"

Keeping one eye out for Matsuda, he called Ide.

_"If he won't answer my calls, maybe he'll answer Ide."_

"Ide? It's Aizawa. Call Matsuda, and ask him where he is."

"Why can't you call him?" Ide asked.

"I already did. About ten times," Aizawa said, "He's not answering my calls."

"What happened?"

"Long story short, and leaving out the long conversation about…things, I drove him to the Yagami's, and on the way back…he ran off on me, and I lost him."

"How do you lose Matsuda?"

"Ide, just call him! Call me back after you do, and tell me where he is!"

"Will do," Ide said.

Aizawa hung up and kept driving, still keeping a lookout for Matsuda, even though he knew he probably wouldn't find him.

A few minutes later, his phone buzzed.

"Ide? Did you…"

"No," Ide said, "He's not answering me either."

"Idiot!" Aizawa yelled. "Not you, Ide." He added hurriedly. "Matsuda, I mean. Where _is _he?"

"He could have gone back home…"

"If he did, he's not answering the door," Aizawa said, "I've already tried to break down the door twice now. Do you think he'd answer if Mogi called him, or…"

"Aizawa, I don't think he's talking to anyone."

"No," Aizawa said heavily. "He was…I've never seen him like this before."

"So…I guess we'll have to hope he went home?"

"No," Aizawa said again, "I know someone who can call him, and when she does, I guarantee he'll answer the phone."

"Who?"

"Sayu Yagami."

"How is she going to…?"

"I'll explain later," Aizawa said, snapping the phone shut and throwing it on the passenger seat. At the next available turn, he sent the car flying in the direction of the Yagami's house.

_"Why didn't I think of this when he first ran off? Maybe Matsuda isn't the only idiot around here…"_

* * *

As he knocked on the Yagami's door, Aizawa was fully aware that he was about to make a fool of himself.

_"How do you lose Matsuda, Ide said. Well…I lost him."_

Sachiko Yagami opened the door, and seemed surprised to see him.

_"No shock. Matsuda's the only one from left after the Kira Investigation who still comes here."_

"Mr. Aizawa," Sachiko said in surprise, "Why are you… What brings you here?"

"I need Sayu to call Matsuda and get him to tell me where he is," Aizawa said, "I can't find him anywhere, and he's not answering my calls or Ide's."

"All right," Sachiko replied. She didn't ask how he had managed to lose Matsuda.

_"He's been spending more time here than he has at work. He probably talks more here than at work… How long has this been going on, anyway?"_

"You had best go up to her room," Sachiko continued, "Take the phone with you."

Aizawa nodded and took the phone. He wasn't completely sure where Sayu's room was, but at least it seemed to be upstairs.

He walked up the stairs and down the dark hallway. One of the bedroom doors stood open, but the second was closed, and showed no signs of anyone wanting it opened, as things had been piled haphazardly in front of it.

_"Light's old room…?"_

The third door was open only slightly, and when Aizawa knocked, a soft voice answered him.

"Come in, please."

He pushed open the door to reveal Sayu Yagami, who stared at him curiously.

"Mr. Aizawa?" she asked hesitantly, "Why…is something wrong with Matsuda?"

"Not…exactly," Aizawa said. He wasn't very good with people, especially people he didn't know, and Sayu somehow unnerved him. Those eyes…

"After he came to see you earlier, I drove him home… I tried to drive him home. We got into an argument, and he ran off somewhere. I need you to call him for me, and get him to come here."

"All right," Sayu said, "I…I haven't spoken on a phone for…"

"It's just Matsuda," Aizawa said, "Talk to him like you would normally."

"I don't talk, normally," Sayu said, but she took the phone from Aizawa.

* * *

His cell phone rang again. He considered nor even looking at it.

_"It's probably just Aizawa trying to call me again. Or Ide, or maybe even Mogi."_

But of course, curiosity got the better of Matsuda, and he pulled the phone out of his pocket.

_"Mrs. Yagami again?"_

"Hello?" he said, hoping that Aizawa hadn't tricked him by calling from the Yagami's house.

"Matsuda? It's me. Sayu."

"Sayu? Why are you calling me?"

"Where are you?"

"Um…sitting on a park bench."

* * *

Sayu looked at Aizawa.

"Should I tell him to come here?" she mouthed.

"Yes," Aizawa said, "He could be sitting on any one of the thousand park benches in Tokyo."

_"I should know. I know all the best park benches."_

"I'll tell him," Sayu whispered.

"Matsuda, can you come to my house now?"

* * *

"Uh…sure, Sayu," Matsuda said heavily.

_"I can't exactly go home. If Aizawa figured out I was there, he would break down the door. Why is everyone so worried about me? If I've been acting this way for a year, shouldn't they be used to it by now?"_

"I'll be there in a few minutes," he said, "See you then."

"Bye, Matsuda. Be safe."

"Okay."

* * *

Matsuda soon found himself knocking on the Yagami's door for the second time that day. He mumbled a hello to Sachiko, then trudged up to Sayu's room.

"Matsuda!" Sayu said, seeming very pleased to see him, "You're safe!"

He smiled, walking over to sit on the bed next to her wheelchair.

"Of course I'm safe…" Matsuda trailed off midsentence as he finally noticed Aizawa, who had been sitting in the far corner of the room. He pulled away from Sayu abruptly.

"Did he tell you to call me? He did, didn't he?"

"What was I supposed to do?" Aizawa asked, "Wait until I heard on the news that you were found dead somewhere. We're all worried about you, Matsuda. Sayu didn't have to call you if she didn't want to."

"That doesn't change the fact that you involved her in something that has a lot to do with…"

"Matsuda," Aizawa said softly, "Think about what you're saying."

_"He's right. Sayu can't ever know…"_

"Yeah…" Matsuda continued aloud, "Well, now that you both know I'm alive, I'll be going home now."

"I'll drive you," Aizawa said.

"You don't need to."

"I'm going to. You can't walk home in the dark."

"I don't need your help, Aizawa!" Matsuda yelled, "Leave me alone!"

And then he turned and ran out of the room, past the startled Sachiko, and out the door.

"Don't worry," Aizawa told Sayu, "I won't let him get lost again."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Late

It had begun to rain, which was less than comforting to Matsuda, but between the dark and the rain, he was pretty sure Aizawa wouldn't be able to see him…if he even bothered to come after him, that is.

_"Why would he bother? His wife's probably gonna kill him for being so late anyways."_

He kept walking, and was about to turn down the pathway to a small park, when he heard someone calling from behind him.

"Matsuda?"

"No, Aizawa, I do not want a ride," Matsuda mumbled, not even looking at the man in the car next to him.

"Get in the car!" Aizawa snapped, "Or I'll have to bring Sayu Yagami out here to convince you!"

"As if her mother would let her outside…"

"Don't get smart with me, kid," Aizawa retorted.

_"Kid? Since when am I a kid?"_

"I'm not the one who's so overprotective all of a sudden," Matsuda said.

"Look, kid," Aizawa said, "We're all worried about you. Let me drive you home, and then I'll leave you alone."

"Sure you will," Matsuda said, "I don't need you to drive me anywhere. I can take care of myself."

He turned and began walking away from Aizawa, into the park, where the older man couldn't follow with his car. To his shock, however, he heard footsteps pounding after him, and a moment later, someone grabbed his arm.

"Let me go!"

"Not on your life," Aizawa growled, "Seriously, Matsuda! What is wrong with you?"

"Well, let's see. I shot a mass murderer, who also happened to be my friend, I got myself mixed up with Sayu, because I thought that I could trust her to keep my secrets, and now I have an overprotective police chief chasing me around the city. That's about it. Oh, and the sleeping pills I almost took earlier. How could I forget that? Now, anything else, _Chief?_"

Aizawa's hold on his arm tightened.

"Let me tell you something, Touta."

_"Touta? What is wrong with him? First 'kid', now 'Touta'…"_

"Fine," Matsuda said quietly. He couldn't argue with Aizawa, even if the older man was being an overprotective pain. "Tell me I'm an idiot. I'm completely used to it."

To his relief, Aizawa let go of his arm, and Matsuda sat down on a nearby park bench. He was already soaked through, so he didn't really care if he got a little wetter.

He avoided looking at Aizawa, waiting to hear a lecture. To his surprise, it didn't come.

_"What's he doing now? Why doesn't he just yell at me and get it over with?"_

* * *

Aizawa himself was uncertain as to why he hadn't yelled at Matsuda yet. The whole time he had been looking for him, he had been planning what to say, but now that he actually had Matsuda in front of him, he didn't know what to say.

"Look, kid," he began, then he stopped. Matsuda really did look like a kid right now. A scared kid, although he wouldn't tell him that.

"Let's just get you home," Aizawa said more quietly, "You'll feel better tomorrow."

"No, I won't. They all say that. And it never happens. I never feel better. It's been eighteen months, and I'm not…"

"Matsuda," Aizawa said, "Come on. It's cold out here."

"Okay."

Aizawa breathed a sigh of relief.

_"Now, if I can just keep him from blowing up again…"_

* * *

Matsuda was quiet on the drive to his apartment. Whenever Aizawa glanced over at the younger man, he found him still leaning against the window of the car, staring out into the rain.

When they arrived at the apartment complex, Aizawa turned to Matsuda.

"We're here. Do you want me to come up with you?"

"I'm okay," Matsuda said, "Thanks, Aizawa."

"Don't get lost again," Aizawa said.

"Wasn't lost," Matsuda replied as he got out of the car. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah," Aizawa said halfheartedly. "If you're not up for work tomorrow, you don't have to come."

Matsuda did not reply. Instead, he turned and stumbled off toward the apartment building.

Aizawa waited until Matsuda was safely inside his apartment. Then, after a moment's pause, he started the car, and drove off.

As he looked back, he was fairly certain he could see Matsuda's silhouette looking through the window of the apartment.

* * *

Matsuda let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding in.

_"He's finally gone."_

The dark-haired man glanced around his apartment, then at his watch.

_"If I'm going to make it to work tomorrow, I'd better go to sleep."_

He hadn't realized how tired he was, but he had been walking for most of the day. Matsuda didn't even bother to change out of his clothes. He flopped down on the couch, intending to watch TV for a little while in an attempt to calm down; but was soon fast asleep.

* * *

Aizawa had intended to enter his house quietly; without disturbing anyone if possible, but the moment he opened the door, he was confronted by his wife, who did not look in the least bit happy.

"Shuichi Aizawa! Do you know what time it is?"

Aizawa glanced at his watch.

"Ten thirty…I'm sorry, Eriko. Some things happened, and…"

He trailed off, looking pleadingly at his wife. She tapped her foot impatiently.

"I'm waiting."

"Matsuda ran off, got lost, and wouldn't answer his cell phone. I finally had to drive to the Yagami's house, and ask Sayu Yagami to call him, which she did. Then, he ran off again and…"

"I thought," Eriko interrupted, "That you were a police Chief, not a babysitter."

"I'm sorry, Eriko. It won't happen again."

"I'm pleased to hear that," Eriko said, "I've sent Yumi and Akira to bed, so you'll have to wait to see them until tomorrow."

"You sent Yumi to bed? She's a bit old for that."

"You weren't here, and she has school tomorrow."

"I…I see. Good night, Eriko."

Eriko did not reply, and Aizawa trudged past her to the kitchen, hoping to find something to make a very late supper for himself.

_"Matsuda, you idiot! Now your problems are affecting my family!"_

* * *

**OK, so...yeah. I just randomly named Aizawa's other kid Akira. I always wanted to name a character that, and they never specified anything about the kid, so...**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Ide Hates Everyone, But Mostly Aizawa

The next morning, Aizawa arrived at work, fully expecting Matsuda _not_ to show up.

_"If he isn't here by lunchtime, I'll call him. I should probably call him now…"_

"Aizawa!"

Mogi and Ide were hurrying toward him from down the hall.

"We've been waiting for you," Ide said, "Did you ever find Matsuda?"

"How does Mogi know about this?" Aizawa asked.

"After you called me, and I called Matsuda, I called Mogi. Matsuda wouldn't answer for him either, but at least it was worth a try."

"Did you find him?" Mogi asked.

"Yes. I took him home, but it was late, so he's probably still asleep."

"Do you think we should call him?" Ide asked, "I mean…its normal for him to be late, but…"

"No. It'll be fine, just this once," Aizawa replied.

"What happened last night?" Ide asked, "Usually, you'd have called him by now."

"What happened last night is between Matsuda, Sayu, and me," Aizawa said, "If Matsuda feels comfortable discussing it with you I'm sure he will."

"But he's all right?" Mogi asked.

"He hasn't been 'all right' for more than a year," Aizawa said, "You both know that."

Mogi nodded, content with Aizawa's answer, but Ide kept on pressing.

_"Typical of him. He needs to be sure of what's going on. Just like me, he doesn't feel comfortable having things kept from him. That was why I left the Kira Investigation…and then we both went back. Me because I couldn't stay away…and according to himself, Ide… Ide went back because I did."_

"But last night was…worse?"

"Look, Ide," Aizawa snapped, "I don't feel comfortable discussing Matsuda's state of mind with you two. I trust you both, but I don't think Matsuda would appreciate it if I told you everything. When he gets here, you can ask him…"

"Ask me what?"

Aizawa turned around, and was surprised to see Matsuda.

"Nothing," Aizawa said, "What are you doing here?"

"Working," Matsuda said, as if it was normal for him to arrive almost on time. "So, what do you want to ask me?"

Aizawa shook his head, then turned and stalked off to his office.

"What's wrong with him?" he heard Matsuda ask.

"Hey, Aizawa!" Ide called, "Are you all right?"

He kept walking.

_"Obviously, no."_

* * *

Matsuda stared after Aizawa.

"What's wrong with him?" he repeated, glancing anxiously at Mogi and Ide. "Did I do something?"

"Well, apparently!" Ide exclaimed, "But whatever it is, he won't tell us!"

With that, Ide stomped off after Aizawa.

"What did I do?" Matsuda wailed.

"Nothing," Mogi said slowly, "Aizawa's upset. Ide's upset. I'm…not upset."

"Are they mad at me?" Matsuda asked.

"No," Mogi said, "I don't think so."

Matsuda didn't reply. He didn't feel like talking, even to Mogi, who probably wouldn't yell at him.

"Have you eaten?" Mogi asked.

"No," Matsuda said. He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten. Yesterday morning, maybe?

"Stay here," Mogi said. He hurried off, and returned a few minutes later with two donuts and a cup of coffee, both of which he handed to Matsuda.

"Thanks."

Mogi nodded, which Matsuda assumed meant 'you're welcome'.

"I'm going to talk to Aizawa," Mogi said. "Eat your donuts, then come to his office. He probably has something for you to do

"Okay," Matsuda said weakly.

_"Like listening to a lecture. That's definitely something he would give me to do."_

* * *

Mogi hoped Aizawa would talk to him. Not that he would have talked to Aizawa, if he had been the one who had chased Matsuda around Tokyo the night before.

_"Aizawa talks a lot. I would rather he yell at me than at Matsuda."_

When he reached Aizawa's office, he paused.

_"The door's closed. He's angry."_

He knocked softly on the door.

"Go away, Ide!" Aizawa snapped.

"It's not Ide," Mogi said, pushing the door open, "It's me."

"Mogi," Aizawa said, surprised. "I thought you were Ide."

Mogi didn't want to come out and say what was on his mind. He rarely did. But where_ was_ Ide?

"I sent him away," Aizawa said, as if he had read Mogi's mind. "Not permanently. But he was starting to get on my nerves. What happened last night is none of his business. Yours either."

Mogi was silent.

"You're not going to talk to me?" Aizawa asked, "Then why are you in my office?"

_"I don't know why I came. To calm you down, so you wouldn't scare Matsuda? He's scared enough… I don't know why I came..."_

"I'm not angry with Matsuda, if that's what you're worried about," Aizawa continued. "It's Ide that's annoying me. He just doesn't know when to quit."

Aizawa paused, staring at his desk.

"I'm not angry with Matsuda," he repeated, "And I'm not really angry with Ide. I'm angry with Light…Kira, I mean. Ever since the warehouse, we've all fallen apart. Even my family. When I got home last night, my wife was…let's just say, she wasn't happy with me. I don't have an easy job, being a police chief with two kids. You're probably the smart one, Mogi. Not falling in love is probably the smart thing for a cop."

Mogi was shocked by this statement.

_"As if I had never fallen in love…"_

* * *

Ide stalked down the hall, in search of Matsuda. He was in a very bad mood, and he intended to get answers to his questions. Now.

When he reached the spot where he had left Mogi and Matsuda, he found, to his great annoyance, that both had gone.

_"I'm going to kill…no…that's not a good phrase…"_

He looked around, and saw that the only person around was a young officer he didn't recognize.

_"New kid?"_

"Hey," he said, trying to sound casual, even though he felt like strangling someone. "Have you seen Matsuda?"

"The one with the donuts?" asked the younger officer, whose name was Naoki.

"Probably."

"He went that way," Naoki said, pointing toward Aizawa's office, but before he had finished, Ide had stalked off.

"You're welcome," Naoki mumbled.

* * *

Matsuda had never been so startled in…the past year. He had been more startled than he was right now. But what was startling about the current situation, was that he was trapped between a wall, and a very angry Ide, who seemed determined to interrogate him.

"I don't even know what I did, Ide!" Matsuda said, "Why are you so mad at me?"

"It's not you," Ide grumbled, "Its Aizawa!"

"Why don't you talk to him, then?" Matsuda stuttered, "I didn't do it! Right?"

"Ide!"

To Matsuda's immense relief, Aizawa had come out of his office, and was watching them.

"Leave the kid alone, Ide."

"Well, sorry, _Chief_!" Ide yelled. "I thought we were friends!"

Ide turned and stalked off down the hall, nearly colliding with the unfortunate Naoki, who was trying to _peacefully_ walk to wherever he was going, preferably without being attacked by anyone.

"What did I do?" Matsuda asked.

_"I didn't mean to make Ide hate me."_

"It's okay, kid," Aizawa said, "Ide's…upset."

"Yeah…?"

"Don't worry about it. Hey, I need some help with a few files. Are you busy?"

"No, Chief," Matsuda grinned, "I'm good. Ready and willing to help!"

* * *

**Yeah...in case you can't tell, I'm not completely certain where I'm going with this. Never have been. It won't be anything grand, though, I can say that for sure. As for Naoki, he might be important later...for now he's just random. And I DO plan to write a chapter that doesn't involve someone running off somewhere. I have a problem with ending stuff the same. Please review! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Don't mind me, I'm just answering a review before I get on with the story. :)**

**Sonar: Well, I hope it'll be interesting. :) Yeah...Aizawa's great at pushing people away these days. **

Chapter Five: Bring Me to Life

It took Matsuda most of the morning to finish sorting Aizawa's files, mostly because Aizawa was either not helping, or interfering. He would stare out the window, not answering Matsuda's questions, and every once in a while, he would snatch a file before Matsuda could read it, and hide it away somewhere himself.

Matsuda was very relieved when all of the files were in their proper places. It was almost lunchtime, and he was sure he had never been hungrier in his life.

"Aizawa? Can I go find something to eat?"

There was no reply. Matsuda glanced over at Aizawa, and, to his surprise, saw that the older man had fallen asleep.

He smiled, then slipped out of the office, closing the door behind him. With Aizawa, a closed door meant 'do not disturb me, unless it's an emergency, or you are Ide, Matsuda, or Mogi, and need to say something important pertaining to important matters that will not be discussed outside the four of us.'

Matsuda could have gone somewhere for lunch, but he really wanted to see if there were any of those donuts left. He had a particular liking for donuts, which he had forgotten until this morning.

_"How long has it been since I enjoyed what I was eating?"_

However, he had two problems. One, he didn't know where to find the donuts. Two, he didn't know where Mogi was, or he would have asked him.

He was trying to remember the location of any donut shop, when he felt something run into him.

"Ouch!" someone protested. "Why do you gotta stand right there?"

"Sorry," Matsuda said. He turned around, and saw a younger man sitting on the ground. It was Naoki, who was having a very bad day.

"How fast were you going?" Matsuda asked.

"Not very. Why were you standing in the middle of the hall?"

"I was thinking about donuts."

"Donuts?" Naoki asked, "It's lunchtime."

"I'm not an idiot," Matsuda mumbled.

_"Matsuda, you idiot! Who do you think you're shooting at?"_

"Are you okay?"

Matsuda reentered reality to see Naoki staring at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, although he didn't mean it. "I'm going to find something to eat."

"Can I come?" Naoki asked, "There's nothing to do here."

Matsuda had never realized how annoying he was to Aizawa until Naoki showed up. But now he was really wishing the younger man would go away.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" he asked, "I don't even know who you are."

"My name's Naoki, and if you don't want any company, fine," Naoki said.

Matsuda glanced back at Naoki. To his surprise, the younger man looked like he might cry.

"Fine," he sighed, "You can come."

Naoki instantly perked up.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Matsuda said. He didn't really want this annoying kid following him around. He had bigger problems. But it would only be for an hour.

* * *

Surprisingly, once they reached a nice little café, Matsuda started to relax. It was hard not to let your guard down with the friendly Naoki around. He had even started flirting with the waitress.

"So…" said Naoki, "You never told me your name."

"Matsuda."

"Why so depressed?" Naoki asked, "They say you used to be a funny guy."

_"They say? Who's 'they'?"_

"That's none of your business…" Matsuda started, then fell silent.

"There was this case," he said, "Probably when you were still in high school."

Naoki looked indignant.

"How young do you think I am?"

"Twenty," Matsuda said. It was a rough estimate, but he thought it was close enough.

"Twenty-two," Naoki corrected. "So…this case?"

"Kira," Matsuda said. He really didn't want to get into the details, so he hoped the kid knew what he was talking about.

Naoki looked very surprised.

"You were in the whole Kira thing? Man, that _was_ when I was in high school. I mean, it only ended last year, but…"

"Things happened," Matsuda said shortly, "I don't want to discuss it."

He paused.

_"Good grief. I sound like Aizawa."_

"You zone out a lot," Naoki commented.

"You talk a lot," Matsuda replied.

Naoki shrugged.

"They all say I'm too happy to be a police officer."

"They said the same thing about me," Matsuda said, "I've been called 'Matsuda, you idiot!' at least once for every day of my life!"

"You're not happy, though," Naoki said.

"Like I said, stuff happened."

There was an awkward silence, broken only by the sound of Naoki chewing on a piece of bread.

"So," Matsuda said, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

It was a random question, and Naoki took it as such. After all, he was possibly more of an idiot than Matsuda.

"Did I mention that people think I'm an idiot?"

"What? No!"

Both men burst out laughing, much to the displeasure of the people nearby.

"Uh, no," Naoki said, once he could speak. "Girls think I'm stupid."

"You should meet Sayu," Matsuda said, "She'd think you're hilarious."

"Your girlfriend?"

Matsuda shook his head.

"No. More like my best friend."

"Cool," said Naoki. "Must be nice to have a best friend who doesn't think you're stupid."

"Yeah," Matsuda said, "She's been kind of sick for a while, but she's getting better now. Maybe sometime you can meet her."

"That'd be fun," Naoki said happily.

Matsuda sighed. He was almost having fun, and somehow, that seemed wrong.

* * *

Sayu was decidedly tired of her bedroom. She wasn't sure where she had been for the past months. No, not months. Years. It had been almost two years since she…

The girl blocked the thought from her mind. She wouldn't think about it. Thinking about it all this time, she suspected, was what had made her condition so much worse.

_"When I stopped thinking about it, I found I could speak. But I didn't just speak for Mom. I spoke because I wanted to repay Matsuda…for all he's done for me."_

Sayu looked around her room. It was so bare. So empty and sad.

_"It needs color," _Sayu thought, _"It needs life."_

She frowned.

_"Where is my sketchbook?"_

"Mom?" she called softly, "Have you seen my sketchbook? I know it's been a while, but do you have any idea where it is?"

"No," Sachiko responded, "I haven't seen it."

Sayu tried not to look desperate.

_"I need that sketchbook…"_

"Maybe you left it at one of your friends' houses?" Sachiko suggested.

"If I did…" Sayu said, "It's probably at Callie's."

Callie Suzuki had been one of Sayu's closest friends in school, but after Sayu had been kidnapped, they had lost touch. Understandably.

"Mom," Sayu said, "Do you know Callie Suzuki's phone number?"

Sachiko looked genuinely pleased.

"Yes, I think so. Would you like me to call her?"

"No, thank you," Sayu replied, "I'll call her myself."

* * *

**Yes, I know, I've completely dropped the subject of Ide's anger issues. He'll be back in the next chapter...probably. Also, I think I've got a plot for this story! A real plot with action and stuff! I've just gotta run it by my sister and my friends, and then, we'll see. :) Of course, that means I have to rewrite the stupid summary... XD**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Red and Black

Before she dialed Callie's number, Sayu paused, suddenly afraid. She hadn't spoken to Callie in well over a year.

_"She probably doesn't even have my sketchbook."_

But she needed that sketchbook. And if her mother didn't have it, Callie was her best bet.

"Hi, Callie? It's Sayu Yagami."

"Oh my gravy!" the person on the other end of the line squealed, "Sayu! Long time, no speak!"

"Yeah…it has been a while," Sayu said, "Say, Callie, can I ask you something?"

"Sure!" Callie squeaked, "What you need?"

"Have you seen my sketchbook? I think I may have left it at your house the day I was…kidnapped."

"Oh, the sketchbook… Hang on a sec!"

There was a sound of shuffling around, a crash, and a girlish scream.

"Callie, are you all right?"

"Yep! I found your sketchbook!"

"Are you busy?" Sayu asked, "If not, would you mind if my mom came over to get it?"

"Your mom totally doesn't need to come!" Callie declared, "I can bring it to your house. I haven't seen you in, like, forever!

"All right," Sayu said.

After Callie hung up, Sayu sighed.

_"I didn't really want her to come over here. But I suppose I'll be expected to get back into the world at some point…"_

* * *

About twenty minutes later, Sayu heard someone knocking on her door.

"Come in," she said softly.

The door burst open, admitting a very hyper young woman. She was fairly small and thin, with bright red hair and green eyes. Callie Suzuki's mother was an American woman who had met her father in college. They had moved back to Japan when Callie was in high school, but, luckily for Callie, her father had taught her to speak Japanese when she was a child, so she had no problem communicating with anybody.

"Hey, Sayu!" Callie squeaked.

Sayu tried not to look annoyed. A definite downside to having Callie around was that she could be very loud.

"Hi, Callie," she said softly.

"I brought your sketchbook!" Callie announced, "Here!"

She produced a small sketchbook from her purse, and offered it to Sayu.

"Thank you," Sayu said, "Thank you for keeping it for me."

"If I threw it away, you'd murder me," Callie said.

Sayu winced.

"Sorry," Callie said, "Bad word choice a la Callie. Would you prefer that heated or chilled?"

"You're ridiculous," Sayu said with a small smile.

"So, what are you going to do with the sketchbook?" Callie asked.

"This room needs color," Sayu said, "I need to draw something to put on the walls."

"What about your old drawings?" Callie asked.

Sayu grimaced.

"They're horrible. I need some new ones. These ones are too…there's something…not quite right about the old ones."

"Okay," Callie said, "Anything you need?"

"Black pencil," Sayu said, "And red, I think. Definitely red."

"O…K…" Callie said, "Should I be scared now?"

"Not at all," Sayu said, "Drawing in black and red is hardly bad."

_"Not yet, anyway…"_

* * *

Matsuda stifled a yawn as he trotted up the walk to Sayu's house. When he and Naoki had gotten back to headquarters, they had gotten in a little trouble for disappearing without telling anyone, and then they had mostly clowned around for the rest of the afternoon. The funny thing was that Aizawa had let them.

It was getting late, but he figured that he owed it to Sayu to come see her anyways. Just because she was talking now didn't mean she wouldn't expect him to drop by every night…or would it?

He knocked, then waited until Sachiko opened the door.

"Don't keep her too long," Sachiko said, "She already had one visitor today."

"Who?" Matsuda asked.

"A friend from university," Sachiko said, "She needed to return something."

"Don't worry, Mrs. Yagami," Matsuda smiled, "I just thought I'd come by and see how she was. It'll only be a minute."

He trotted up the stairs to Sayu's room, forgetting to knock in his haste. He had a lot to tell her about today. When he entered the room, however, he stopped short.

"Whoa…"

Sayu's bedroom had undergone a rather startling transformation. The walls were now decorated with sketches in black and red pencil.

"Do you like it?" Sayu asked.

"Uh…yeah…" Matsuda said, "It's really cool, Sayu."

_"Actually…the red and black is kind of creepy… It's not like Sayu at all."_

"You don't like it," Sayu said. She was staring out the window into the night.

"No, it's really pretty, Sayu," Matsuda protested, "It's just not really my style, I guess…"

"I should have drawn you a unicorn," Sayu said.

Matsuda blushed.

"Who told you about the unicorns?"

"You did," Sayu said, "It's interesting, what people will say to someone who they think will never be able to betray their secrets. I suppose…you won't be coming here as much, now that I can speak."

"No, Sayu. I'll come every night, just like always," Matsuda said.

The girl did not look at him. He sighed.

"Sayu. Listen to me…I promise, you're not just…"

* * *

Sayu gazed fixedly out the window.

_"Really, Matsuda? I'm not so sure…you seem so awkward around me now. Like you're scared…"_

The girl jumped as she felt someone's hand brushing her hair out of her face.

"Stop it, Matsuda!" she squeaked. "Don't touch me like that!"

She immediately felt sorry. Matsuda looked very surprised, and rather like a sad puppy.

"Sorry…" he stuttered, backing away. "I'll just…go home now…"

"No, wait," Sayu said.

Matsuda paused, evidently expecting her to say something, but she didn't. She couldn't think of anything to say.

"What do you think about me?" she asked, "Honestly?"

For a moment, she thought he wasn't going to answer. Sayu waited for him to turn and leave, but he didn't.

"I think that you are a wonderful, sweet girl," Matsuda said softly, "I think you're a great person, and I don't care if you can talk or not. I like you just the way you are. If you change, I'll like you just that way too."

Sayu frowned. This moment of sincerity from Matsuda confused her. She was fairly certain he was serious. There was no playful gleam in his eyes. As a matter of fact, she couldn't remember the last time she had seen his silly smile reach his eyes.

"Matsuda, are you all right?" she asked without thinking, "You're unhappy. You have been since…"

Matsuda's face clouded.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Sayu."

He looked at his watch.

"Wow!" he said with a pitifully fake smile, "It's late! I should get home!"

"Goodbye, Matsuda," Sayu said.

After he had gone, she studied the walls of her room. They were covered in sketches done in red and black, and, while she liked it, there was something missing.

_"What is it?" _Sayu thought, as her eyes flickered from sketch to sketch,_ "What is missing?"_

The girl pulled out her sketchbook. There were still a few blank pages left somewhere, she was sure. But, surprisingly, the book fell open to one particular sketch of a handsome, brown haired boy.

_"Light…when did I draw him…?"_

Sayu flipped through the rest of the sketches. Mom…Dad…Misa…Callie. Her family and friends, as they had been when everyone was alive and happy.

She frowned.

_"Someone's missing…"_

"That's what's wrong!" she gasped suddenly, "I know what I have to draw…"

* * *

**Well, I made a cover for the story, and I rewrote the summary. In a few chapters, the REAL plot will kick in...but in the meantime, please review! Reviews are to me what sweets are to L...I live on the stuff. XD**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: Abduction

Ide was now both angry and tired, not a good combination at the best of times. He had been up for most of the night, trying to figure out why he was so angry at Aizawa.

_"I'm still not sure why I'm angry with him. I can't remember the last time we had a fight."_

And that, Ide decided, was the entire problem. He and Aizawa had always told each other pretty much everything. For some reason, not knowing what Aizawa was up to made Ide angry.

_"It's not like I can't trust him…but we've always looked out for each other, even when we were kids in school. He was feeling bad about something…and he wouldn't tell me."_

He had finally decided to go outside. It was almost morning anyway, and lying in bed for another hour wouldn't do him any good. If anything, he would fall back asleep, and then be late for work.

_"And just because Matsuda is late for work and Aizawa lets him, doesn't mean he'll let me be late."_

Matsuda…Ide was starting to suspect that part of the problem was Matsuda.

_"Since the Kira case ended, Aizawa's obsessed with keeping the kid out of trouble. It's always 'Gotta go check on Matsuda. Gotta go make sure Matsuda didn't blow up the soda machine'."_

"So, he's overprotective of Matsuda," Ide mumbled, "I knew that. We're all a little bit overprotective of him. So why…"

He paused. For the past several minutes, he had heard footsteps behind him. He had assumed that it was just another person out for an early morning walk…but they were getting closer. It was starting to sound like more than one person.

_"Stop being paranoid," _he scolded himself,_ "No one is following you. You're wearing everyday clothes, so you look like a normal citizen out for a walk."_

But the footsteps really were getting closer, and whoever it was seemed to be going awfully fast for just being out for a walk…

Ide glanced behind him, just in time to catch a glimpse of a young man swinging something at his head. He had just time to register that the other man looked vaguely familiar before he blacked out.

* * *

Three hours later, Aizawa arrived at the NPA headquarters. It was still a little early, but he had expected to find Ide waiting for him. He was usually there earlier then Aizawa.

_"He's probably still angry with me. I was pretty harsh with him yesterday…"_

Aizawa looked all over for Ide. He looked in the lounge. He looked in every office he could think of. But Ide was nowhere to be found.

"Where is he?"Aizawa muttered.

He looked around, and, to his relief, spotted Mogi coming toward him.

"Mogi, have you seen Ide today?"

Mogi shook his head.

"I'd better call him," Aizawa said. He pulled out his cell phone, aware that Mogi was still watching him.

To his shock, the only response to his call was an automated message.

"This number is no longer available."

_"No longer available…" _Aizawa thought, "That's not normal."

"Mogi," he said, "Ide wouldn't deactivate his cell phone just to avoid talking to me…right?"

* * *

Mogi considered the question.

"No…I don't think so," he said slowly, "That doesn't seem normal."

"Then…you don't think something's happened to him?" Aizawa asked.

Mogi did in fact think that something had happened to Ide-if not, then he was evidently extremely angry at someone-but he didn't think Aizawa would handle that very well.

_"Ide could have just dropped his phone and it broke."_

"Wait," Mogi said, "He'll show up soon. If he doesn't, we'll go look for him."

"I…what if something's happened to him?" Aizawa asked.

Mogi didn't have an answer for that, so he pretended he couldn't hear. What was he supposed to say?

* * *

Matsuda had been feeling optimistic this particular morning, but all that changed when he stepped into work. He was only a few minutes late, but Aizawa and Mogi were waiting for him.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Ide's missing," Aizawa said.

"Huh?" Matsuda asked.

_"He's missing…where could he go?"_

"We're going to look for him," Aizawa said, "His cell phone number is no longer available, and so it could mean he's in trouble.

"No," Mogi said, "Matsuda and I will look for him."

"What?" Aizawa snapped, "Mogi, you're not serious!"

"If you go running off, the others will panic," Mogi said, "Matsuda and I can handle this. Can't we, Matsuda?"

"Hmm?" Matsuda said absentmindedly. "Oh! Sure we can!"

_"But what if Ide's in real trouble? Aizawa's smarter than me and Mogi."_

"Stay here," Mogi said, "When we find him, we'll call you."

_"You said when," _Matsuda thought,_ "What if we don't find him?"_

"Matsuda?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry, Mogi!" Matsuda said, seeing that the older man was already halfway out the door.

As they left, Matsuda glanced back at Aizawa.

"He'll be okay until we get back, right?" he asked Mogi. He wasn't sure why, but he had a bad feeling about this.

"Better not to have someone who's as emotionally involved as he is out looking for Ide," Mogi said, "He would go to greater measures than would be prudent."

"Whoa," Matsuda said. "You said two sentences in a row, Mogi! Great improvement!"

As usual, his attempt to lighten the mood failed miserably. Mogi stared at him for a moment, then turned and walked away.

* * *

As always, Matsuda ended up in the passenger seat of someone else's car. Mogi was completely silent on the drive to Ide's apartment, and although Matsuda knew that was far from abnormal, he wished Mogi would say _something_.

When they got to the apartment, Mogi finally spoke.

"We should see if he's home. He might have overslept."

"Yeah," Matsuda said, "Sure."

_"Ide never oversleeps. He's always on time. Always…"_

He trotted off after Mogi, hoping they were right.

_"Ide's going to open the door and tell us it's all okay. Maybe he got a cold or something."_

However, Matsuda was wrong. Mogi knocked and knocked, and no one answered.

"He's not here," Mogi said finally, "Let's go look for him."

He turned and walked past Matsuda toward the car. As Matsuda turned to follow him, Mogi's cell phone buzzed.

* * *

Mogi pulled his phone out. He hadn't planned to answer it…but then he saw who was calling.

"Aizawa?"

"Mogi, you and Matsuda need to come back right now!" Aizawa yelled. Or at least, it sounded like he was yelling. Or screaming. "There's something I need to show you!"

Aizawa sounded hysterical. Anyone listening in would be questioning his sanity.

_"This isn't good," _Mogi thought. _"If Aizawa's acting like this…"_

He turned to look for Matsuda, and realized that the younger man was already in the car.

"Come on," Matsuda said.

"All right," Mogi said. As he hurried to the car, he tried to reassure Aizawa.

"Stay calm. We'll be right there."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: Executed

When Mogi and Matsuda arrived back at the NPA headquarters, they headed straight for Aizawa's office.

_"I hope he's in here," _Matsuda thought, _"I kinda thought he'd be waiting for us."_

But when they came to Aizawa's office, the door was closed. Mogi knocked, and a moment later, the door opened, to reveal none other than Naoki.

"What are you doing in there?" Matsuda blurted.

"Crowd control," Naoki said, "Or rather…Chief control. He's crazy upset."

"What happened?" Mogi asked.

"Hey, I don't know. I just found a package addressed to the Kira Investigation Team. That's you guys, right?"

Matsuda nodded.

"Thought so," Naoki said, "So, I brought it to Aizawa, and he freaked."

"What is it?" Matsuda asked, "Let us in the stupid room!"

"Okay," Naoki said, "What's going on, anyway?"

"Ide's missing," Matsuda said, shoving past Naoki. He would later regret his behavior, but all the stress way getting to him.

Aizawa was sitting in his chair, staring out the window. A package lay on the desk behind him.

"Did you open it?" Mogi asked.

"No," Aizawa said, "I was waiting for you."

"The Kira Investigation Team," Matsuda said, "That's means Ide too, right? So he must be okay."

"I don't think so," Aizawa said, still looking away. "This was attached."

He swiveled his chair around, and handed Mogi a crumpled piece of paper. Matsuda peered over Mogi's shoulder, trying to see, without success, until the other man read the note aloud.

_To Shuichi Aizawa, Kanzo Mogi, and Touta Matsuda,_

_Yes, I know who you are. Now, read this closely. This package contains information about your friend Hideki Ide. All the footage on the tape took place earlier today. Open the package…or you will all die without ever knowing what happened to Ide._

Matsuda gulped.

"That sounds bad."

"Yeah, that's what I said," Aizawa replied.

"We have to open it," Mogi said.

Aizawa stared at the package in utter hatred.

"I want to burn it," he muttered.

"We can't do that without knowing," Mogi said. Then he opened the package. Inside was a video tape.

* * *

Naoki leaned against the wall, watching Aizawa, Mogi, and Matsuda, while they watched the tape. It was odd that they hadn't noticed he was still there. Even odder that they hadn't sent him away. But maybe that was good. Maybe, since he wasn't so personally involved in the events playing out on the video, he could help keep them calm. But the young man couldn't help but feel horrified after he saw that video. He couldn't just sit there and not care.

At first, the screen was black, and so it remained, as someone began to speak. It was obviously a disguised voice, too squeaky to belong to a normal human.

"Members of the Kira Investigation Team. I'm sure you're wondering where your friend Ide is by this time. Well, let me show you."

The screen changed from black to an image of a room in what looked like an abandoned building. The only people who could be seen were two masked men…and Ide. He looked terrible…and sort of…desperate? Hopeless? It was hard to tell. He was tied to a chair, and appeared to be completely oblivious to the presence of his captors.

Then, the voice spoke again, as a third masked man appeared.

"Hideki Ide. I suppose you want to know why you are here."

Ide raised his head.

"I couldn't care less."

"It doesn't really matter," the voice said, unperturbed, "Your fate will be the same anyway."

The masked man turned and gestured to the other men.

"You may proceed," he said, and walked away, leaving a clear view for the observers. A clear view for them to watch as these men- men who they could not even identify to punish for their crime-raised their guns and shot Ide in the chest. Once, twice, three times, and the chair he was tied to fell backward. The fall and the shots to his chest had probably loosened the rope. But it was too late for Ide. And Aizawa, Mogi, and Matsuda could only watch as he died. And even though they knew it was too late, that somewhere, in some abandoned building, Ide was already dead, Matsuda had his hand on his gun. As if it would do any good. Because either way, with three bullets to his heart, Hideki Ide was already dead.

But what they didn't know, what they would never know, was that Ide had tried to say something. He had needed to say something, but he couldn't. Even the men who had shot him down didn't hear him whispering.

"Aizawa…I'm…sorry…"

* * *

Aizawa, Mogi, and Matsuda stared at the screen, trying to process what had happened. There was complete silence, while whatever camera had recorded Ide's death lingered on his body. Then, even though the screen still displayed the same image, the voice was speaking again.

"This is justice. I'm sure you don't agree, but this is. Kira was justice, and one of you killed Kira. You know who you are. Whether or not you choose to reveal yourself makes no difference. But be assured, one of you will be next. The penalty for killing a god-a just god-is death."

* * *

The moment the video ended, everyone in the room went completely berserk, with the exception of Naoki, who was completely shocked.

Matsuda jumped up, screaming at the screen, telling it that Kira was most definitely not a god, and not justice, and how could they kill an innocent person? When he stopped, he was crying, and he kept on repeating something over and over.

"It's my fault, it's all my fault. I'm sorry, Ide. I didn't know…I didn't think anyone would try to kill us now…"

Mogi was the first to recover from the initial shock, and when he did, he crouched in front of Matsuda, who was sitting on Aizawa's desk.

"Matsu, it's not your fault."

"It is too!" Matsuda shrieked, "It's my own stupid fault!"

"Ssh," Mogi said, "Ssh."

Under ordinary circumstances, the sight of the awkward Mogi trying to comfort Matsuda would have been ridiculous. But it wasn't. Nothing was funny right now, and Naoki knew it. He hadn't known Ide personally, but he had still been a person.

Finally, Matsuda stopped crying and climbed off the desk, where he sank onto the floor. Mogi looked up, and saw Aizawa still sitting in his chair, staring at the blank screen. And he was crying, without making a sound.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: Fight to Survive

Three days later, Matsuda was knocking on the door of Aizawa's house at nine o'clock in the morning.

Eriko opened the door, and frowned when she saw him.

"Shuichi won't talk to you," she said, "He won't even talk to me."

"He _has _to talk to me," Matsuda said, "Please, Mrs. Aizawa, I gotta convince him to help me and Mogi."

"Help you with what?" Eriko asked. "Help you die?"

"No!" Matsuda said, "We're going to find the people that killed Ide, with or without Aizawa. But we…we'd rather have him with us. Like old times."

It was all Matsuda could do not to scream "Please, we need a leader! We can't do this without Aizawa! Ide's dead, and we have to find the people who killed him so no one else will die! Aizawa's like our leader, ever since Soichiro Yagami died!" But he stayed quiet, and waited for Eriko to respond.

"You can try to talk to him," Eriko said finally. "Someone needs to. But I will warn you, he's taken to throwing things at anyone who goes into the bedroom."

"Where've you slept?" Matsuda asked.

"I sleep in Akira's room. As things are, I feel safer knowing he's not by himself at night."

"You don't think Aizawa would hurt him?"

"Shuichi is distressed," Eriko said coldly, "Someone needs to talk to him."

"That's what I'm here for," Matsuda said with false cheerfulness.

Eriko stepped aside to let him into the house, and then he followed her into the living room, where he discovered two children. One was a girl who looked about thirteen, and the other was a younger boy, maybe about six years old.

"Who's this, mommy?" the boy asked.

"This is one of Daddy's friends from work," Eriko said, "His name is Mr. Matsuda."

"Hi, Mr. Matsuda!" the little boy said cheerfully, "I'm Akira."

"Hi," Matsuda said.

The girl had remained intent on the screen of her cell phone, but, now, she looked up.

"Did you come to fix our father?" she asked.

"Yumi, he can't just fix your father," Eriko said.

"I'm going to try to fix him," Matsuda said, "Your dad is a good guy. We need lots of people like him in the world."

Yumi nodded.

"Thank you for trying. Sometimes, I don't think he has anyone who cares about him. I love him, but he can be a real pain."

"Yeah, I know about that," Matsuda said, "He's chased me around the city before trying to make me stop being stupid."

"He did that to Yumi once, when she tried to run away with her boyfriend!" Akira piped up.

"Shut up, Akira," Yumi said.

"Well…that sounds very interesting," Matsuda said, "But I really have to go talk to your dad now, so…bye."

* * *

However, it didn't work out that way. Yumi and Akira followed him and Eriko down the hall to the one closed door in the house.

Eriko crossed her arms over her chest.

"Go on in," she said, "But be ready to run."

Matsuda gulped. A closed door meant trouble when you were dealing with Aizawa.

But he reached for the handle anyways.

* * *

_CRASH! _

Matsuda hurtled back out of Aizawa's room, with blood running down his forehead.

"He threw a lamp at me!" Matsuda announced.

Akira shoved past Yumi and poked his head around the door.

"Daddy, it's not nice to…"

_CRASH!_

Akira scurried back, crying.

"Shuichi Aizawa!" Eriko screeched, "Don't you _dare _throw things at our son!"

* * *

Matsuda felt like he was in a movie theater. He felt like a spectator, watching a big, lifelike, three-dimensional screen. Maybe it was the pain in his head that was causing him to zone out. But it didn't last long.

Because watching Akira crying, Eriko screaming and hugging the little boy, and Yumi, slipping past them, running into her room, and shutting the door, he suddenly felt reminded of his own childhood.

_"I was a little kid whose dad threw things at me once. But my dad knew what he was doing. Somebody's gotta knock some sense into Aizawa...before it's too late."_

He slipped past Eriko and Akira, and burst into Aizawa's room. He was counting on taking the other man by surprise, and it worked. He ran right into Aizawa by accident, knocking him over.

"Stay down!" he yelled, as Aizawa tried to get up, "Stay down! I've got my gun, and you know I can use it!"

"Matsuda, what the…?"

"You have no idea what you're doing!" Matsuda yelled, "You threw something at your six year-old son! Do you have any idea what that feels like? Do you? Do you understand what a little kid feels like when his dad throws something at him? Little kids don't understand the big picture! They think their dad is mad at _them_! They think he's crazy, and he hates them! Snap out of it, Aizawa! You're going to hurt somebody!"

He hadn't realized how loud his own voice was, or how angry he was, until he stopped yelling. He could feel his anger like a living thing. He had only been this angry once before…

And then he looked down, and saw Aizawa still sitting on the floor, with his head buried in his hands.

* * *

***Flashback, Aizawa's POV***

_"I try to do what's best for this family, but no one understands! You're all ungrateful! I should just leave!"_

_He could hear his parents fighting. His dad screaming, his mother crying._

_"Shuichi, I'm scared."_

_He turned around, and remembered that he was in his sister's bedroom. She was so small, at ten years old, and so frail. _

_"Its okay, Aina," he said, "I won't let anyone hurt you. Ever."_

_He could feel the rage inside him. In this moment, he wanted to kill his father. That man had ruined their lives because he couldn't be happy in his job. Couldn't love his family._

_"Promise?" Aina asked._

_"I promise," he said, "Stay here. I'll be back."_

_And with that said, he climbed out of the window. It was a first floor window anyways, and no one would see him leave this way. Once outside, he sprinted across the backyard and to the little tree. He looked up into the branches, and then began to climb._

_"Shuichi!"_

_He looks around, nearly falling out of the tree before he sees another boy standing below him._

"Hideki…"

_"Whatcha doing up there?" Hideki Ide asked._

_"Come up," Aizawa replied._

_Ide climbed up beside him._

_"You okay?"_

_Aizawa shook his head._

_"Tell me."_

_"I don't feel like it."_

_"Come on, you know I won't tell anybody. We've been friends our whole lives."_

_"Okay. I trust you, Hideki. You've always been there for me."_

_"Always have, and always will," Ide said, "No matter what, I'll be right there by your side."_

_"Same here," Aizawa said, "Friends to the end, right?"_

_"Right."_

***End Flashback***

"Aizawa? I'm sorry. I didn't mean…" Matsuda said, "I was just upset."

"No, you were right," Aizawa said. "You may not know this, but Ide and I were friends since we were very young. When I was a teenager, my father lost his job, and he and my mother began fighting. Not long after that, Ide's mom was diagnosed with cancer. He was always there for me, and I tried to be there for him. We promised each other that we'd always stick together. I failed him. One time, I didn't feel comfortable talking to him about something, and then he died. I'll never be able to tell him I'm sorry."

"I bet Ide knew you weren't really mad at him," Matsuda said, "It was my stupid fault anyway. This whole thing was. If I hadn't shot Light, back at that warehouse, maybe…"

"Don't be ridiculous," Aizawa said, "I'm telling you, the shinigami killed him. He would have either way."

Matsuda didn't say anything.

"Why are you here?" Aizawa asked.

"Mogi and I have decided to try and find the guys who killed Ide," Matsuda said, "We want you to help us. If you want to."

Aizawa smiled grimly.

"I would like nothing better. It's us or them, so let's make sure it's them."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: Investigators

Only when Matsuda emerged from Aizawa's room did he realize how dark it had been in there. Eriko and Akira were gone, but, as they passed through the living room, Matsuda saw the woman shoot a glare at Aizawa.

He looked at Aizawa, and realized that he had noticed too.

"Matsu, I'll have to call you later," Aizawa said, "There's something I have to do."

"Good luck, Chief," Matsuda said.

"Thanks."

* * *

Sayu frowned.

_"So Matsuda lied after all. He hasn't come back. Just like I thought. He never really felt anything for me. I wonder if he knows what I feel for him..."_

At that moment, her bedroom door creaked open.

"Sayu?" a familiar voice said timidly, "Can I come in?"

_"Matsuda!" _Sayu thought. Then she frowned.

_"He sounds terrible. I haven't heard him sound this bad since right after Light…Light…"_

"Come in," she said. She thought about lecturing him for not coming to see her, but when she saw his face, she was sure that she shouldn't. Matsuda looked even worse than he sounded. His clothes were rumpled, his hair messy, and he looked exhausted.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"N-no," Matsuda said. He sat down on her bed and rested his head in his hands.

"What is it?" Sayu asked. She was beginning to have a bad feeling.

* * *

"The reason I haven't come to see you…" Matsuda said.

He paused.

_"I don't want her to be worried. But she's gonna find out eventually…"_

"Ide…Ide's dead. Some Kira supporters killed him, and they're after me, Aizawa, and Mogi next."

He glanced at Sayu, and immediately felt guilty.

"Oops… I didn't mean to tell you all of that."

"You can't let them get you!" Sayu burst out, "You have to catch them first! Kira has killed enough of my family already!"

"Your family?" Matsuda asked, "You think of me…like part of your family?"

Sayu gestured to the wall above her bed. Matsuda looked up, and saw something he had been too upset to notice earlier. Sayu had taken some of the red and black sketches down, and in their place were several drawings of people. People he knew. Sayu's mother and father, Light, Misa…a red-haired girl he didn't recognize…and him.

"S-sayu!" he stammered, "That's…it's…nobody ever…"

Sayu looked worried.

"You don't like it? I thought it might make you happy…"

"No, Sayu," Matsuda said, "I love it! Nobody ever did anything like that before…for me."

He smiled, but he didn't dare touch her. After last time, he was afraid of what she might do.

"I have something to show you," Sayu said, "I've been practicing."

"Practicing?" Matsuda asked absently. He was so tired. He just wanted to go home and sleep…

"Look, Matsuda!" Sayu said. She sounded happy, so he looked over at her…

And found that her wheelchair was unoccupied. And she was standing…_standing_, and smiling proudly.

"Sayu!"

"I can do it!" Sayu said proudly, "Not for very long, but…"

She swayed, and, without thinking, Matsuda jumped forward to steady her.

"It's wonderful, Sayu," he said, "But you've gotta rest, okay? Take it easy. I'll be here to catch you, but you have to be really careful."

"I'm not a baby, Matsuda," Sayu laughed.

"I know," he sighed, "I just…I've lost so many people. My parents…your dad…Ide…and Light."

_"Don't forget Light! If you do, it's all over!"_

"Matsuda? You can let go now."

Matsuda blushed, realizing that he was still supporting Sayu.

"Sorry."

"It's all right," Sayu said, returning to sit in her wheelchair. "You should go home and get some rest. You and the others are probably having a meeting later, right?"

"Yeah, probably," Matsuda said, "Aizawa's gonna call me. You don't mind if I go now?"

Sayu smiled sadly.

"Your life is more important than seeing me."

"No, it's not," Matsuda said. "But I gotta make sure nobody else dies. I have to…"

_"I have to find this killer, and I'm not gonna have any regrets about shooting whoever did this."_

"What's wrong?" Sayu asked.

"N-nothing," Matsuda sighed, "I'd better get going."

"Goodbye," Sayu said, "Be careful."

He grinned, knowing how fake it looked.

"Always. I'll be back this evening if I can get away."

* * *

After Matsuda left, Sayu looked over at the clock on the wall. 3:30 p.m.

_"He must have skipped work today. I wonder what he's been doing. His head looked like it had been bleeding."_

Sayu reached for the phone, which she had taken to keeping with her.

"Callie? Come over here as soon as you can. We've got to talk."

* * *

Matsuda woke up to the sound of his phone ringing in his ear.

"Huh?" he mumbled, "Who's calling in the middle of the…oh…it's only 6:30…"

He looked around for his phone, and finally found it right where he had left it on the coffee table.

"Hello?"

"Matsuda, Mogi and I are coming over," Aizawa's voice informed him.

"Uh…do you have to come here?" Matsuda asked, looking around at the chaos that was his apartment. Pizza boxes, donut boxes, soda cans…

_"When was the last time I cleaned this place? Or cooked my own food…?"_

"Yes, Matsuda, we do have to come there," Aizawa said.

"Why?"

"Think about it," Aizawa said, starting to sound frustrated. "I come over and check on you a lot, and so does Mogi. But you hardly ever make social visits to anyone. If we both show up here, it will seem like we both decided to check on you, and happened to come at the same time."

"Who cares if we're all together?" Matsuda asked, "We could just meet at work."

"Whoever killed Ide had obviously been following him," Aizawa said, "So they're probably watching us too."

"I guess that makes sense," Matsuda agreed reluctantly.

_"When he sees my house, he's going to freak out."_

"Good," Aizawa said, "I'll be there in about ten minutes."

_"That doesn't give me a lot of time," _Matsuda thought, looking around his apartment. _"I guess I'd better clean it up quick."_

* * *

Exactly ten minutes later, someone knocked on Matsuda's door. He grimaced, but he opened the door.

"Hi, Aizawa. Oh, hey, Mogi, you're here too. What a surprise!"

He glanced at Aizawa, who nodded.

"Good to see you, Matsuda. Can we come in?"

"Sure," Matsuda said, stepping aside to let the two men enter.

Aizawa regarded Matsuda's apartment in evident disgust.

"Let me guess," he said, "You haven't cleaned your apartment in about eighteen months. How do you live here?"

Matsuda chuckled nervously.

"Well…um…"

Mogi merely shook his head at the mess, and cleared several pizza boxes off of a chair.

Matsuda sighed and leaned against the wall, until Aizawa pointed at the couch.

"Sit down."

He sat down, feeling awkward, and Aizawa sat next to him.

"All right," Aizawa said, "We all know why we're here. We have to find these people. I think we should start by trying to find the warehouse in the video. It might give us some clues."

"There are a lot of abandoned warehouses in Tokyo," Matsuda said, "We could search forever and never find anything."

"We have to start somewhere," Aizawa said. "We have to look for something. We haven't got a lot to go on."

"We'll find them," Matsuda said.

He was startled by the intensity in his own voice, but he couldn't stop now. Everything was coming out at once.

"We'll find them, and we'll make them pay. I swear I'll make them pay for what they've done."

* * *

Somewhere in a dark room, two men were intent on a computer screen, which was connected to a camera that was filming the meeting in Matsuda's apartment.

"Clever trick," the older of the two noted, "How did you break into his apartment?"

"Didn't have to," the other said, "He left the door unlocked."

"This isn't good enough. You have to do your job. Get close to them. You're supposed to make Matsuda trust you."

"Don't worry, boss," the younger man replied, "He doesn't suspect a thing. Before you know it, I'll be in on their little investigation."

"You had better be."

* * *

**Ooh, suspense! And here we get to (sort of) meet the bad guys. This should have been up on Saturday, but I was making an AMV for Matsuda and Aizawa. If you want, go look me up on Youtube. Same username. :)**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: Let Me Help

The next morning, Matsuda got up at precisely seven thirty a.m. He was very proud of himself.

"I'm going to be on time!" he announced to no one in particular.

However, his good mood quickly evaporated, because he was not, in fact, going to be on time, since he had absolutely no clean clothes.

"No…no…no!" Matsuda mumbled, "Why does this always happen to me? I have to have some clothes somewhere…"

He didn't have any clothes, and it was now eight o'clock.

"I hate my life," Matsuda mumbled. "Man…who took my clothes…"

He looked around one more time, hoping a clean suit would appear. It didn't.

"Stupid…" Matsuda mumbled, grabbing the suit he had worn a few days ago from off the floor. Hopefully, no one would notice how wrinkled it was. But with his luck, they probably would.

* * *

When he finally got to work, Matsuda found Aizawa waiting outside the building.

"Don't ever be late again!" Aizawa said, "You're scaring me."

"Um…Aizawa?" Matsuda said, "I've been late just about every day for the past year."

"Sorry," Aizawa said, "Mogi already told me I'm being paranoid, but…"

"It's okay," Matsuda said, "So what are we doing today?"

"Let's go to my office," Aizawa said, "Mogi's waiting."

Matsuda trotted after Aizawa to the office, where they found Mogi waiting for them.

"You need to be sure to wash your clothes tonight," Mogi said.

Matsuda blushed.

"Sorry."

Aizawa muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Stop blushing like a teenage girl", then sat down.

"Sit down, Matsuda," he said, "We need to talk before we decide where to search..."

At that moment, someone knocked on the door. Aizawa sighed.

"Come in."

The door opened, and Naoki burst in.

"You guys want donuts?"

"That," said Aizawa, "Is the most horrible excuse I have ever heard for sticking your nose in where it doesn't belong. Get out."

Naoki's face fell.

"Aw…come on… I just want to help."

"Too bad," Aizawa said, "This is personal, so get out."

"Come on, Aizawa," Matsuda said, "We could use the help."

"Yes," Aizawa said, "We can use a useless idiot, I'm sure."

"You know what, Aizawa?" Matsuda said, "You're really being a jerk. Naoki already knows what's going on, and you didn't chase him out when we watched the tape, so he doesn't just know about this because of the rumors that are probably all over by now. It's not like he's gonna hurt anything."

Aizawa glared at him, and Matsuda flinched.

_"Why do I ever open my big mouth?"_

"Fine," Aizawa growled, "But if anything gets leaked about this…I'll know exactly who to blame."

"Don't worry about it, Chief!" Naoki said, "I won't tell anybody!"

Matsuda couldn't be sure, but he thought Aizawa almost smiled.

"Then let's get to work," Aizawa said, "We need to find these people before they find us."

"They've already found us," Mogi said.

"We'll find them before they _kill_ us," Aizawa muttered, "Is that good enough for you?"

* * *

***Two days later***

"Hey, Sayu?" Callie said, "Does your mom know where we are?"

Sayu turned to look at the red-haired girl.

"Yes, Callie," she said, "She knows that we're out alone in the dark investigating a murder. And she's completely fine with me doing that, even though that's how my father and brother died."

"Sarcastic much?" Callie asked, "Okay, I get the point. So where does she think we are?"

"I'm supposedly having a sleepover at your house," Sayu said, "Ridiculous as that sounds. I'm also supposed to rest and not overexert myself."

"Yeah, about that," Callie said, "You aren't gonna, like, collapse on me, are you?"

"I don't plan to," Sayu said. "If I get tired, we'll go back to the car, all right?"

Callie glanced around nervously.

"You don't think there are actually people out here who would try to kill us…right?"

"Callie," Sayu said, turning on the other girl, "If you want to, you can go wait in the car. But I am going to investigate this, with or without you."

"Okay, sorry," Callie said, "I just don't get why this is so important to you."

"This is important because of the people who have died, and who will still die because of Kira and the legacy that he left behind," Sayu said, "I lost my father and brother, and I'm not letting Matsuda and the others be next. These people killed Mr. Ide, and I'm going to help Matsuda find them before it's too late."

"Your boyfriend's gonna flip if he catches you," Callie said.

"He's not my boyfriend," Sayu said, "And he_ would_ be angry with me."

"So why risk it?" Callie asked, "I mean, it's all fun, but…you could die."

"Yes," Sayu said, "But Matsuda could also die. And if he died, I could never survive it."

"Hey, Sayu," Callie said, "I think I hear somebody walking around outside."

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere very close by, Aizawa, Matsuda, Mogi, and Naoki were carrying out their investigation...but they had decided to investigate the same warehouse that Callie and Sayu were currently in.

"This one looks like someone's been around recently," Aizawa said, "In fact, they might still be here."

"There's a car over there," Mogi said, "That's why you think there's someone here?"

"Yeah," Aizawa said, "We should check inside."

"Me and Mogi can do it," Matsuda said. He would have brought Naoki, but the dark warehouse was creeping him out, and he had no idea what Naoki would do in a tight situation.

"Fine," Aizawa said, "Naoki and I will be right here, so yell if you run into trouble."

"Okay," Matsuda said. He glanced at Mogi, who nodded.

"Let's go," Mogi said.

* * *

Sayu froze.

"Are you sure?" she whispered.

"Yeah," Callie said, "There's definitely someone out there."

Sayu paused.

"Sayu?" Callie said, "What do we do?"

"Move toward the door, but stay in the shadows," Sayu said, "Maybe we can sneak past them. And pull up your hood so they can't see your face very well."

"Okay," Callie said.

The two girls tiptoed along the edge of the building toward the exit. When they got there, there was still no sign of anyone outside.

"Maybe they're gone," Callie said. "I'm gonna go look."

"Callie, don't…" Sayu whispered.

But Callie had already moved out of the shadows, toward the door. Just as she got there, a large person entered it, knocking her over unintentionally.

Sayu stiffened.

_"Oh, no. Callie, why did you have to go out there?"_

* * *

Callie stared up at the very tall person who had knocked her down. Oddly, he didn't seem like the killer type. He actually seemed quite concerned that he had knocked her down.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, "I didn't see you. What are you doing here?"

Callie stayed quiet. This guy didn't seem threatening, but you couldn't be sure.

"You don't have to be afraid," the man continued. "I'm a detective. See, here's my badge."

"Mogi, don't show your badge to her!" someone squeaked from behind the man, "We don't know who she is!"

"I don't think she's one of the people who killed Ide, Matsuda," the man said, "She's just a girl."

"Oh, so you're Mogi?" Callie asked. She couldn't help but ask, she was so relieved. "Sayu said you don't talk much. She didn't say you were so nice, though."

"Sayu?" Matsuda said, "You know Sayu?"

"Oops," Callie mumbled.

Behind her, she heard footsteps as Sayu moved out of the shadows.

"Hello, Matsuda," Sayu said quietly.

* * *

**Sorry this took so long. I was raking leaves, ridiculous as that sounds. It's a long story. XD **


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve: Decision

Matsuda had never been more shocked in his life. No, that was a lie. But it was extremely surprising to find one's friend in an abandoned warehouse in the middle of the night. An abandoned warehouse that was obviously under investigation by the police, no less.

_"It can't be… Why would she do this…? I told her to rest and keep safe… Why did you come here, Sayu? What if it had been the people who killed Ide who found you, instead of me and Mogi? What then?"_

"S-sayu?" he said, "What…why?"

Mogi turned from where he was crouched next to the other girl.

"Let's go back to the others," he said, "We'll be able to talk there."

_"You're gonna take them out there for Aizawa to yell at?" _Matsuda thought._ "Okay, maybe that's good. Let Aizawa handle this."_

He still wasn't sure whether to yell at Sayu or hug her. On the one hand, he was relieved that she was outside, doing something. On the other hand, he was angry. Didn't she understand? Something could have happened to her. She could have died, if the people they were trying to find had found her and Callie sneaking around.

He turned and plodded outside, not really caring whether the others followed him. They probably would. After all, Mogi had suggested this.

* * *

Mogi shook his head at Matsuda's retreating figure.

_"Yes, leave me with the girls, Matsuda. I'll be able to handle them, I'm sure."_

He looked back at the girl on the ground. She was still staring at him, and Sayu-it was Sayu, wasn't it-was standing behind her.

"We'd better go with him," Mogi said quietly. He wasn't good with girls. He didn't even want to be around girls, since…

_"Not now," _he scolded himself, glancing at the two girls, who were walking away, _"They'll be gone in a few minutes, and they'll be someone else's problem."_

When he got outside, Mogi found Aizawa staring at Sayu and Callie in evident confusion.

"Mogi?" he said, "What is this?"

"I'm not sure," Mogi said, "We just found them."

"It's Sayu," Matsuda pointed out.

Aizawa frowned.

"Sayu _Yagami_?"

Mogi nodded.

"Matsuda," Aizawa said, "Tell me you did_ not_ tell this girl about Ide."

Matsuda laughed nervously.

"Um…" he mumbled, "I kinda…"

"Idiot!" Aizawa yelled, "This was supposed to be a _secret_ investigation, Matsuda! Why are you so stupid?"

"Mr. Aizawa," Sayu said, stepping forward, "I asked him. He was obviously upset. Was I supposed to sit there and wonder why he was so sad and not be there for him? He's always been there for me."

"I agree that he needs your friendship," Aizawa replied, "But he didn't have permission, and there's no getting around the fact that he told you classified information, and you apparently told the other girl."

Mogi glanced at the girl in question, who was chewing on a strand of her long red hair.

_"She's obviously not from Japan…so why is she here? However…whoever she is…she is rather pretty…"_

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Callie Suzuki," the girl replied, "And you're Mogi, right? So the grumpy guy is Aizawa?"

Mogi nodded.

"And who's he?" Callie asked, pointing at Naoki, who was sitting on the hood of Aizawa's car. "Sayu never mentioned him."

"That's Naoki," Mogi said, "He's new."

"Oh, okay. That explains a lot, 'cause if he wasn't, I guess Sayu would've mentioned him."

_"She really talks a lot," _he thought, _"She's almost like…like…"_

"Mogi?" Aizawa said, "Are you listening to me?"

"Sorry," Mogi said. "What did you say?"

"I want you to go with these two and make sure they go back where they came from. I'll send Naoki to get you when you're done."

"Hang on a second," Sayu said, "You're sending us home? Like we're little girls?"

"Yeah!" Callie contributed, "We're in college, for Pete's sake!"

"My point exactly," Aizawa said, "The last…no, we're not going there. It doesn't matter. You're both going home. Now."

* * *

Matsuda gulped. He wanted to send Sayu home more than anything…but only if he could be sure she would stay there.

"Aizawa," he said, "I need to talk to you. Right now."

Aizawa glared at him.

"Is this really necessary right now?" he asked.

"Yes," Matsuda said. _"It's necessary because I don't want Sayu to get hurt and I need you to tell me what to do after I tell you my idea."_

"All right, Matsuda," Aizawa said, "What is it?"

The black-haired man beckoned Aizawa away from the others.

"They're gonna keep investigating on their own," Matsuda said, "You know they will. They're gonna get hurt. Aizawa…what can I…I have to keep Sayu safe."

Aizawa frowned.

"I know what you're suggesting, Matsuda, and I don't like it. I don't feel comfortable having Sayu Yagami involved in this, for reasons you well know."

"I promise you, she won't turn out like Light," Matsuda said, "I know her."

"Like you knew Light?" Aizawa asked, "Matsuda, you know what I'm going to say. Why are you pushing it?"

"Because she's the last one," Matsuda said, "The last person I care about…who cares about me."

* * *

Aizawa stared at Matsuda.

_"Does he really think that Sayu Yagami is the only person who cares about him?"_

"Matsuda," he said, "You know…me and Mogi…we do care what happens to you."

"I didn't mean it like that," Matsuda said, "You guys…you're my friends…but Sayu is the only person who accepts me. She doesn't try to fix me because she knows that nobody can fix me. She still…loves me…"

_"So that's it," _Aizawa thought, _"He thinks that no one can help him. But Sayu is helping. The way he acts when he talks about her. It's almost like having the old Matsuda back."_

"Matsuda…listen…" he said, "I think we should…"

* * *

Mogi was so focused on Aizawa and Matsuda, wondering what they were talking about, and why he was being excluded from the discussion (not that he would have contributed much), that he almost didn't hear when the red-haired girl-Callie-started talking to him.

"Do you think they're really gonna send us home?"

"They should," Mogi said, "As long as you're not involved in this, you're much safer."

_"And you're out of my way," _he thought, _"I don't think I can cope with having you around. You're too happy, and too much like…like someone I used to know."_

"Sayu's not gonna stop looking," Callie said, "And if Sayu's out in the dark chasing criminals, then so am I."

"It's not safe," Mogi said, "You're just little girls."

Callie stamped her foot.

"I am almost twenty-two years old!" she announced, "I am not a little girl!"

"I see," Mogi said softly.

_"Stop talking to her, right now, or you're going to be sorry," _he ordered himself.

At that moment, Aizawa and Matsuda rejoined the group.

"Everyone," Aizawa said, "I've made a decision."

* * *

**Well...Mogi is way harder to write about than I'd anticipated. It's the curse of the minor characters... :/ Anyways, I just need to say: 27 reviews? In eleven chapter?! That's possibly the most I've ever gotten in this little time. :) Thanks, everyone who reviews! As you know, reviews are what I feed on. Besides chocolate, that is. Must have chocolate. ;)**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen: Alliance

Matsuda fidgeted nervously. He really hoped he hadn't messed everything up-but he felt like they couldn't just let anyone else get killed if it could be avoided. And it scared him, thinking about Sayu and her friend out here alone in the dark. Anything could have happened to them. They could have been killed, or…the things that could have happened to two girls…

"I've decided that Sayu and her friend are going to help us," Aizawa said.

The announcement brought an instant effect. Naoki looked mildly surprised, then grinned.

_"Oh, great," _Matsuda thought, _"Naoki and two girls. Yay. This will be fun."_

Although, he reminded himself, one of the girls _was_ Sayu.

Mogi, on the other hand, looked annoyed.

_"What's up with him?" _Matsuda thought, _"Usually he likes to be around girls. Or…he doesn't mind it, anyway. That's why he always ended up following poor Misa-Misa around."_

"You two can come with us to…hmm…" Aizawa said to Sayu and Callie, "Headquarters is closed, and I really don't feel like unlocking everything…"

He glanced at his watch.

"We're going to my house," he said, "That's the only place big enough, besides Sayu's house, and Mrs. Yagami would _not _thank me for the intrusion at this time of night."

"Will your wife?" Matsuda whispered.

"No," Aizawa said, "But she'll get over it…I hope."

* * *

It was almost nine thirty when they got to Aizawa's house. The neighbors must have wondered what was going on, with two police cars parked outside.

Sayu stayed in the back of the group as Aizawa fumbled through his pockets for his keys. Matsuda was chatting with the brown-haired policeman-Sayu wasn't sure what his name was-and Callie was currently attempting to make Mogi smile, which wasn't working.

"Callie, maybe you should leave him alone," Sayu said.

Callie looked annoyed.

"Maybe he should smile first."

"Let him be," Sayu said. She was completely sure that if she was Mogi, she would absolutely hate having Callie following her around.

The girl couldn't believe that Aizawa had actually agreed to let them help. She thought that he had probably decided it was for their safety…or at least that would have been the way Matsuda would have put it. He would never consider that she could be hurt in his company. Even though so many other people had died when he had been there, he would never be able to cope with the thought of her death…or so it seemed. Matsuda seemed so vulnerable. So alone.

* * *

Aizawa finally managed to unlock the door, and they all trooped inside, much to the astonishment of Akira, who had been playing in the hall.

"Who are all the other people, daddy? I know him, but no one else" he said, pointing at Matsuda, "Why so many people?"

"Why are you still awake?" Aizawa asked, bending down to pick up the little boy.

"I let him stay up," Eriko said, appearing in the doorway that led to the rest of the house. She frowned.

"Why are all these people here?"

"We're…um…it was a last minute decision," Aizawa said, "There won't be anyone at headquarters this late, so… We needed to have a meeting…"

"I see," Eriko said. "In that case, Akira, it's time for bed."

"Aw…" Akira mumbled, "Daddy, don't let her make me go to bed! Bed is boring!"

Aizawa looked back at the others, feeling rather embarrassed. He was the only one with a kid here…so he couldn't expect them to understand.

"I'll be back in a minute," he said, "Make yourselves at home."

* * *

After Aizawa and Eriko had left with Akira, Matsuda, Sayu, Callie, Naoki, and Mogi were left staring at each other in silence. It was awkward, and it was starting to get to Mogi. This was enough to annoy him even further. He was not used to being visibly upset by anything, and right now, he knew that Matsuda at least could tell that he was ruffled. The younger man was staring curiously at him.

Mogi tried to ignore it. At least Callie had finally decided to leave him alone. It probably wouldn't last, though. And now, they were apparently stuck with her.

"Mogi, are you okay?" Matsuda asked softly.

_"No. I am not," _Mogi thought, _"I am being confronted by a situation-no, a girl-who is starting to extremely annoy me, for reasons I do not wish to explain."_

But all he said was:

"I'm fine."

Matsuda didn't look convinced, but he had no chance to pursue the issue, because Aizawa chose that moment to reappear.

* * *

"All right," Aizawa said, "Everyone sit down. We've got a lot to talk about."

Once everyone had taken their seats, Aizawa took a moment to observe the group. He was painfully aware that they expected him to lead them. They expected him to take charge, because that was what he had always done. But it was hard. It was hard when you were emotionally involved. When what you wanted to do was rush off alone, so there was no chance that anyone else would be hurt.

Matsuda was fidgeting, and not looking at him, staring at the floor instead. Sayu, in contrast, was staring right at him, obviously ready to listen to whatever he had to say. Callie twirled a strand of bright red hair around her finger. Naoki's left hand was twitching oddly, drumming subconsciously on the tabletop. The young man seemed preoccupied, but it was late at night, and they had worked hard that day. Mogi's gaze kept shifting from Aizawa to Callie and back again. Aizawa had no idea what had gotten Mogi so…un-Mogi-ish all of a sudden, but it had started when Callie appeared, he was sure of that.

"Everyone," he said, feeling awkward, "I'm going to admit right now that I've never actually led an investigation before. I'm not a genius, and I can't do everything alone. If I could, I think you know I'd be out there right now by myself. I have no idea where to even start looking for a lead, a tip, anything that could help. If anyone has a suggestion, now is the time."

"I know you won't like this," Mogi said, "But I'm going to say it, because chances are, he'll turn up anyway."

"No," Aizawa said, "We are not calling him. I don't even know how to contact him, nor do I want to. This isn't Kira, this is a personal matter."

"Question," Callie said, "Who's 'him'?"

"A…detective…from the Kira Case," Matsuda mumbled, "He's pretty smart, but Aizawa's right. We don't need him. Not yet, anyway."

"From now on, the six of us will meet at headquarters in the mornings, unless otherwise specified. If we want to have a meeting in private, we'll meet at someone's house. Understood?"

Everyone nodded.

"We will probably end up working in pairs," Aizawa said, "I have some in mind, but I'll run them by each of you before I finalize anything. All right? Is there anything else?"

He paused for a moment, but no one spoke.

"Then, in that case, go home, get some rest. We'll meet at headquarters tomorrow."

* * *

**Boring chapter is boring. Next time, I promise, things will actually happen. :)**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen: The Real Investigation Begins

"Sayu, are you sure this is what you want?"

"Yes, Mom," Sayu said, trying not to sound impatient. Matsuda was waiting, and Sachiko chose right now as a last minute opportunity to try and talk her out of going to help the police. Although Sayu could hardly blame her mother, she wished she would just accept that she had to try and find the people who wanted her friends-and her father's and Light's former co-workers-dead.

Sachiko looked as if she was about to cry, so Sayu hugged her for the fifth time.

"Its okay, Mom," she said, "Callie and I are going with Matsuda and the others so we'll be safe. We can't investigate on our own, can we?"

She left out the fact that that was exactly what they had done. Her mother didn't need to know.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Yagami," Matsuda said, "I won't let anything happen to Sayu. Me and the other guys will handle the dangerous stuff."

Sachiko nodded, and, to Sayu's relief, she finally let them leave.

"Is Callie driving herself?" Matsuda asked, as they got into his car.

Sayu laughed.

"She's probably not even awake. I'll call her."

Sayu pulled her newly acquired cell phone out of her pocket. One of her mother's many demands before she had been allowed to leave was that she have a cell phone with Sachiko, Matsuda, and Callie's contact numbers with her at all times.

"Callie?" she said, when someone picked up the phone and mumbled a sleepy greeting.

"What's going on?" Callie mumbled, "Is too early."

"Get dressed," Sayu said, "Matsuda and I are coming to pick you up."

"Why's your boyfriend picking me up?" Callie mumbled.

Sayu glanced at Matsuda, who had obviously overheard, and was blushing.

"He's not my boyfriend, Callie, and we're going to the NPA headquarters. Does that mean anything?"

"Oh, yeah!" Callie said, now fully awake, "My quest to make Mogi smile continues! See you in a minute!"

"What is it with her and Mogi?" Matsuda asked, after Sayu had put the phone back in her pocket. "I'm pretty sure he hates her."

"I noticed," Sayu said, "Of course, Callie's attracted to people who think she's annoying."

"Usually Mogi doesn't mind girls," Matsuda said, "I don't know what's gotten into him."

"I'm sure he'll tell you if it becomes important," Sayu said, although she was not at all sure that this would be the case. "For now, maybe we can try to keep them separated?"

Matsuda shrugged.

"I kinda hope they can just be friends," he said, "It's kinda bad when the people on the same team don't like each other."

Sayu nodded. She could tell, just from the things she had overheard when her father was alive, that things went much more smoothly when everyone trusted each other.

* * *

When Matsuda, Callie, and Sayu got to headquarters, they found Aizawa, Mogi, Naoki, and an empty box that had once held donuts.

"Hey," Matsuda said, "How come we don't get any?"

"Ask him," Aizawa said, gesturing to Naoki, "He ate four."

"Mogi ate six," Naoki said.

"Mogi is twice your size, and therefore needs to eat more," Sayu told the brown-haired man.

"I'm growing," Naoki replied.

"You're twenty-two," Mogi said, "You stopped growing a long time ago."

"That's what you think," Naoki said.

"All right," Aizawa said, "Now that we're all here, we need to talk. Oh, by the way…"

He reached under his desk and pulled out a second box of donuts, which he handed to Matsuda.

"Don't give Naoki any more until you've all had some."

"Hey!" Naoki protested. Aizawa ignored him, and kept talking.

"In order to cover more ground more quickly, we're going to split up into three groups of two. Is that all right with everyone?"

Everyone nodded.

"All right, then," Aizawa said, "Matsuda and Sayu can go together-I can trust her to keep you out of trouble, Matsuda-, Mogi and Callie can…"

"Wait a minute…" Mogi protested.

"Mogi," Aizawa said, "Cooperate with me, please."

Mogi looked distinctly unhappy, but he sat back in his chair and folded his arms.

"And Naoki and I will work together," Aizawa finished.

"Aw, man!" Naoki complained, "Can I switch places with Mogi?"

"No, you cannot," Aizawa said, "If this doesn't work, then I'll switch you with Callie."

"Come on, please!" Naoki begged.

"No," Aizawa stated flatly. "Come on. We're going."

* * *

Mogi stared at Aizawa.

_"Why is he leaving me with Callie? I _understand _that my normal job is babysitting girls, but those days are over."_

"Come on, Mogi!" Callie squeaked, "Let's go!"

"That offer still stands!" Naoki informed Mogi, before Aizawa pulled him out of the office.

_"Not according to Aizawa," _Mogi thought. He turned to Callie.

"Let's go," he mumbled, turning and trudging out of the office.

* * *

Callie looked curiously out the window of Mogi's car. She had never been to this part of Tokyo before, and it was really different.

"It's really…quiet…here," she said, trying to make conversation. It wasn't that she disliked silence. It just made her nervous when she was with other people.

"It's not the safest part of the city," Mogi said, "If you want to meet without an interruption, these abandoned warehouses are the best place."

"So, how do we find the right one?" Callie asked.

"We look," Mogi said, "With six of us spread out across the city, it shouldn't take too long."

They parked on a deserted street, and Mogi headed for a dilapidated building without a word. Callie followed. The silence and the lack of people scared her. Why was there no one around?

"H-how do we know if there a-anyone here?" she stammered. Mogi turned to look at her. For a moment, he looked genuinely concerned.

"It's all right," he said, "We'll look around for a few minutes, then we'll go. I know what to look for."

"O-okay," Callie said.

She decided that as long as she stayed close to Mogi, she would be safe. As she followed him around the empty building, the man seemed to get annoyed.

"Go look over there," he said, "I'll be right here if you need me."

Callie tiptoed over to the spot Mogi had indicated. She had no idea what she was looking for, but, as she stared up at the ceiling, she felt something brush against her leg. She jumped back, but tripped and fell on the ground. Callie covered her eyes.

"Callie? It was just a rat."

The girl opened her eyes, coming face to face with Mogi.

"S-sorry," she whispered, "I didn't know."

"Its fine," Mogi said, "We should probably go. There are more places to look. You can stay right with me if it makes you feel safe."

"Thanks," Callie whispered, although she wasn't sure Mogi had heard her, because he didn't answer.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen: Nothing Yet

Matsuda really hated his job at this precise moment. He didn't like abandoned warehouses anymore-and whether he had ever liked them was questionable.

"Matsuda? Are you all right?"

He jumped guiltily, remembering that he wasn't the only person there.

"Yeah…I'm fine," he said, smiling at Sayu. "Why do you ask?"

"You've been standing there for the past five minutes, staring at the wall," Sayu said, "Are you sure you're all right?"

He nodded.

"I'm okay. It's just…never mind. It doesn't matter."

He looked away from her, hoping she wouldn't press the issue. No such luck.

"Matsu?" Sayu said, stepping toward him, "What's the matter? Really."

_"Can't tell you, Sayu. You would hate me if I told you."_

"I told you, I'm okay," Matsuda said, "I'm fine. I promise."

* * *

Sayu sighed. They had been going from warehouse to warehouse all day, and at almost every one, a similar scene had occurred.

_"There's something wrong with him. Why won't he tell me?"_

"Don't make promises that aren't true," she said. The words came out sharper than she had expected, and Matsuda looked surprised. Hurt, even.

"I'm sorry," Sayu said.

"No, it's okay," Matsuda replied. He looked as if he was about to say something else, but stopped himself.

"Look…" he said awkwardly, "It's getting late. We should probably call it a day. Aizawa will get worried."

Sayu considered arguing with him. Pressing him until he told her what was wrong. But she didn't have the energy. She was tired of walking, and going back to headquarters sounded like a good idea.

"All right," she agreed.

* * *

Matsuda sighed. What could he have said to Sayu? She didn't need another reminder of her brother's death-not when he could spare her that. He would do better tomorrow. No more staring off into space. No more remembering…but, of course, the moment you tell yourself not to remember something, it comes unbidden and unwanted into your mind.

Matsuda shuddered. He glanced at Sayu, hoping she hadn't noticed. Luckily, she was facing away from him.

"Come on," he said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Let's go."

Sayu glanced at him, and he quickly removed his hand from her shoulder.

Once they got outside, Matsuda realized that the sun was setting. It was a beautiful sunset…but standing outside an abandoned warehouse, the scene was horribly familiar.

Sayu sighed.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Matsuda replied unenthusiastically.

"Matsuda," Sayu said, "I need you to tell me what's wrong. Please."

"The sunset looked just like this when Light died," Matsuda said tonelessly. He didn't care anymore. This was the first real day's work he had done in a long time, and he was tired. Too many reminders…of the things he had seen…the things he had done…on January 28, 2013.

Sayu's smile faded, and she turned and trudged toward the car. Matsuda sighed.

_"Me and my big mouth…"_

* * *

As the two drove off, neither of them noticed a black-haired man standing across the road. If they had, Matsuda might not have left so quickly. When they had gone, the man crossed the road and entered the warehouse.

_"Not that they're not smart and all," _he thought, his pale grey-blue eyes glancing around to be sure no one was watching, _"But I might as well check it out."_

* * *

Back at headquarters, Matsuda and Sayu found Aizawa and Naoki waiting. Naoki looked extremely bored.

"Tough day?" Matsuda asked.

"It was boring," Naoki mumbled, "Empty buildings, all day, and no girls whatsoever to keep me company."

He leaned back in his chair.

"Somebody explain to me why I had to go with the old guy?"

Matsuda laughed, but quickly stopped when he noticed Aizawa glaring at him.

"I don't know," he said, "Why don't you ask him?"

"I did," Naoki said, "He won't tell me."

"You wouldn't concentrate if I sent you with Matsuda or one of the girls," Aizawa said, "I assumed you preferred my company to Mogi's."

"At least you speak," Naoki mumbled. "Even if you don't talk nicely."

Aizawa shook his head at the younger man, then turned to Matsuda.

"Tell me you took notes on the places you visited today."

"Um…was I supposed to?" Matsuda asked.

"Here, Mr. Aizawa," Sayu said, pulling several pieces of paper out of her pocket and handing them to Aizawa.

"It's good to see that someone here knows what they're doing," Aizawa commented.

Matsuda could feel himself blushing…again.

_"Why do you do that?" _he thought, _"You're not a girl."_

"Hey, Matsu! What's wrong with your face?"

Matsuda looked up, startled, to see Callie standing in the doorway. He was sure his face got even redder.

"N-n-nothing…"

"Are you sure?" Callie asked, "Because your face is turning purple."

"Quick!" Naoki yelled, "Initiate rescue sequence!"

"What the…? Naoki!" Matsuda yelled, as he was tackled by the younger man. "Get _off_!"

Mogi chose that moment to make an appearance. The scene must have looked odd from his vantage point, but at the moment, Matsuda was more concerned with getting Naoki off of him.

"Stupid... I am not turning purple! Get off of me!"

"Okay, sorry," Naoki said with a good natured smile. "You were turning purple, though."

"Whatever you say," Matsuda muttered.

_"Somebody tell me I'm not that immature…"_

* * *

Mogi sighed. How he had ended up working with these somewhat childish police officers was completely beyond him sometimes.

"Aizawa," he said, "I need to talk to you."

Aizawa looked mildly surprised at this, but, by now, anything was probably starting to be ordinary, because he didn't ask why Mogi suddenly wanted to talk.

"All right," Aizawa said, "Let's go outside. I'm sure Sayu can sort these ruffians out…eventually."

* * *

Once they got outside, Aizawa turned to Mogi. He wasn't sure, but he had a good idea of what the other man wanted to talk to him about.

"You want me to switch Naoki and Callie, don't you?" he asked.

Mogi looked mildly surprised, but he nodded.

"Mogi," Aizawa said, "I don't get it. You're good at keeping girls like her out of trouble. Why the sudden aversion to any contact with Callie? She seems nice enough…if annoying."

Mogi frowned.

"If you don't want to switch her and Naoki, that's fine. I just thought I would tell you."

Aizawa started to protest, but Mogi cut him off.

"Do you want my notes?"

"Er…yes," Aizawa said.

Mogi reached into his pocket, but, as he pulled several pieces of paper, something else fell out and drifted slowly down to the floor.

Aizawa bent down to pick it up, and found himself looking at the last thing he expected to see, especially since it had just come from Mogi's pocket. It was a small picture of a smiling blonde girl. A _very_ familiar blonde girl. Even if he had never particularly liked her, she was hard to forget.

"Mogi…" he said slowly, "Why do you have this?"

* * *

**OK, you should be able to figure this one out. There weren't that many blonde girls in Death Note to begin with... **


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen: Enter Amity

Aizawa had never been more confused in his life. Of all the people on earth that he could have found carrying a picture of this girl, Mogi would have been absolutely dead last. Sure, he had known her. Sure, he had spent a lot of time around her. Maybe he would have even considered her as his friend. But what was Mogi doing with a picture of Misa Amane, almost six months after she had died?

"Why do you have this?" he repeated.

Mogi didn't answer. He was staring guiltily at the photograph.

"I think you know why," he said, very quietly.

"Mogi," Aizawa said, suddenly very impatient to find out what was going on, "If I knew, I wouldn't be asking you!"

Mogi held out his hand for the photograph. Aizawa put it behind his back.

"I'm not giving it to you until you tell me what's wrong," Aizawa said. "I need to know, Mogi. This is part of the reason you don't want Callie around, isn't it?"

Mogi stared at the floor as if he thought it might hold the answer to everything.

"It's the whole reason. When you told me, back before all this started, that I was smart because I never fell in love…you were wrong. Because…well…I fell in love."

"With Misa Amane?" Aizawa said, "I…Mogi…why?"

"I don't know why," Mogi said. "It just happened. She…well…I don't know. She was just so funny, and she needed someone to look out for her. Light was never there-he was using her the whole time-and she didn't even realize. And after…she was crushed…and we couldn't even tell her the truth."

"She probably already knew the truth," Aizawa said, "We have enough proof that she was the second Kira…"

"She did not know!" Mogi yelled.

Aizawa stared at him.

_"I am learning a lot about what not to say to you today…"_

"Mogi," he said, "She…"

"I know what you think," Mogi said, "But that's not the point. She died because she loved Light, and he used her. The whole time. She was totally oblivious to it. She loved him, and he didn't even care. She was expendable to him, and it wasn't fair to her. It wasn't fair that he wouldn't love her because he thought she was stupid. And she wasn't stupid. She could be smart if she wanted to. She had fans…and Light…who manipulated her. I…I don't know why…but I…"

Aizawa sighed.

"So…now that she's…gone, you don't want to care about anyone."

"That's not true," Mogi said, "I just don't want the same thing that happened to Misa happening to Callie. They're so much alike…"

Aizawa had no idea what he was supposed to say. He understood Mogi's predicament…but maybe Callie was just what he needed. Aizawa didn't know. He was not a specialist, nor did he want to be. So, he said the first thing that came to mind.

"I want you to give Callie a few more days."

Mogi looked utterly shocked, so Aizawa continued quickly, before he could protest.

"Please, Mogi," he said, "You work well together. Besides…did you ever think that maybe Callie needs someone like you to keep her out of trouble?"

Mogi looked like he was about to object…but then, he sighed.

"Fine. But only a few days."

* * *

Somewhere in Tokyo, a girl sat alone in a hotel room. She had sleek dark brown hair, which was pulled back into a ponytail, and sharp green eyes. She was about eighteen years old. Her name was Amity.

Someone knocked on the door of the hotel room. Amity did not even look at the door.

"Come in, Gevanni."

The door opened, and the man in question entered.

"How'd you know it was me?"

"You knock differently," Amity said, "Your report?"

"Well, I didn't really find anything important," Gevanni said, "But I did see Matsuda. He's from the Japanese Task Force, y'know?"

"Matsuda?" Amity asked, "He is the one who is reported to have shot, if not killed Kira, yes?"

Gevanni nodded.

"Him and some girl were investigating a warehouse that was on my list. They left right after I got there."

"A girl?" Amity asked, "I was not aware that there was a girl involved with the Japanese Task Force."

"Me neither," Gevanni said, "Guess she's new."

Amity nodded.

"I would assume so. Thank you, Gevanni. Rester and Lidner have already come and gone. You are dismissed. Report back tomorrow."

Gevanni nodded, then left without a word.

When he had gone, Amity went over to a desk in the corner of a room, and lifted the lid of a silver laptop. She typed in a few commands, and, in a few minutes, the screen displayed only a black letter L on a white background.

"Near," Amity said, "Its Amity."

"Amity," Near's voice said, "Do you have anything to report?"

"Nothing yet," Amity said, "We've been searching the abandoned warehouses, like you told me, but we haven't found anything. Gevanni says that he saw one of the Japanese police officers also investigating the warehouses today."

"Which one?" Near asked.

"Touta Matsuda," Amity said, glancing at a file that lay on her desk. "There was a girl with him."

"A girl?" Near repeated, "So they have other police officers working with them? As they have lost several of their Task Force, that is not surprising."

"I'm not sure, Near," Amity said, "From Gevanni's description, this girl sounded like a civilian."

"Describe her," Near said.

"Gevanni said that she was small, with long brown hair, and brown eyes. She looked sad, and he noticed that she seemed to be easily tired out. Also, he mentioned that when Light Yagami was mentioned, Matsuda mentioned him by name, and not as Kira. The girl appeared to be upset by the mention of Kira-or Light Yagami, whichever you want to call him-and they left soon after."

Amity knew that if she could have seen Near right then, he would have been twirling a piece of his hair around one finger.

"The description matches Sayu Yagami," Near said, "Although, the fact that she was walking is most peculiar. Did Gevanni say whether or not she spoke?"

"He did not, but since he did not say otherwise, I would assume that she did," Amity replied. "Why does it matter?"

"Almost two years ago, Sayu Yagami was kidnapped and held hostage by Mello," Near said.

"Mello…"Amity said, "It figures that he would be involved."

"She was released in exchange for one of the notebooks that the investigation team had confiscated, but she was confined to a wheelchair, and, as far as I know, she has not spoken since then. However, if she has become involved, it means that either she does not know that her brother is Kira, or she has both made a remarkable recovery, and has come to terms with it. I find the later extremely unlikely. It was clear that everyone thought a great deal of Light Yagami, and I do not think that his own sister would be an exception."

"What do you want me to do?" Amity said, "If we could work with the Japanese Task Force, it would save a lot of unnecessary labor."

"Do as you think best," Near said, "It will not be Matsuda and Mogi that you will have to convince. It will be Aizawa. He is not exactly favorably disposed toward me, but I think he will probably cooperate with you to avoid the deaths of his coworkers. He was reported to have been very close to Ide, the one who was killed."

"Understood," Amity said, "I'll contact him."

"Notify me when-or if-he accepts," Near said, "I am almost certain that he will."

* * *

After the others had left, Aizawa remained in his office. He had been staying up late and getting up early for days now. Anything to give him more time to work. Anything to help them catch Ide's killer, before someone else died. Sometimes, Aizawa wondered who would go next. Would it be him, or Mogi, or Matsuda, or even-God forbid-one of the girls, or Naoki?

Suddenly, his laptop beeped. He glanced at the screen, and, to his surprise, he saw a large, black A on a white background, which had completely taken over his computer screen.

"Mr. Aizawa," said a voice-a girl's voice, he thought. "I am A. I am the leader of the SPK, which, as you know, works under Near. I have a proposition for you."

"You can tell Near that I don't want his help," Aizawa snapped.

"It won't be Near who will be helping you," 'A' said. "It will be the SPK and myself. I will report to Near. You won't even have to speak to him."

"I'll have to talk to the others," Aizawa said.

"I will contact you again tomorrow at noon," 'A' said. "Until then, Mr. Aizawa."

* * *

**Introducing the Sheep! Sorry, I had to do that... Anyways...I wasn't originally planning on involving Near, but popular opinion seemed to be in favor of adding him, so...here he is. And Amity is fallout-killjoy's character. And, since fallout-killjoy helped me come up with this: let it be known that she is awesome! And, again, Amity is her character (who hopefully is fairly in-character...). OK, I'm going to shut up now. ;) **


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen: Agreement

The next morning, when everyone had assembled in Aizawa's office, Aizawa had to tell them all about Amity's call…or whatever it had been.

"Last night, I was contacted by a person who called herself A," he said.

"Her?" Matsuda asked, "They've got a girl now?"

"Who are they?" Naoki asked.

"They are people," Aizawa said, "And, yes, Matsuda, they have a girl now. According to herself, she's taken over the SPK."

"Makes sense," Mogi said, "Near would be too busy working as the new L."

"Hold on a minute," Sayu said, "Naoki, Callie, and I have no idea what you three are talking about. Who is Near, what is the SPK, and why are these people using letters as names?"

Aizawa looked at Mogi and Matsuda.

"Should we tell them?" he asked. It was a risk…but if they were going to be working with the SPK, Naoki, Callie, and Sayu would probably find out about everything eventually.

"Answer Sayu's questions," Matsuda mumbled, "They don't need to know anything else."

Mogi nodded.

"I agree. There's no need to tell them the details."

_"So you don't want me to tell them about Light," _Aizawa thought, _"I never planned to. We agreed months ago not to tell anyone what really happened that day at the Yellow Box."_

"Near is a detective we worked with on the Kira Case," he said, "He officially succeeded L after the conclusion of the Kira Case. The SPK is the Special Provision for Kira. I think you can guess what their job was."

"They were also working to catch Kira?" Sayu asked.

Aizawa nodded.

"We worked with them and with Near toward the end of the case, and we were all there when we finally apprehended Kira."

"Hey, can I ask a really stupid question?" Naoki asked.

"No," Aizawa said.

"I just wanted to know what apprehended meant," Naoki grumbled, "That's all."

"You're a police officer, and you don't know what that means?" Sayu asked.

"Nope," Naoki said, "I only pay attention to cute girls, not impressive vocabulary."

"First of all, if you start hitting on my girlfriend, I will make Aizawa fire you," Matsuda said, "Second of all, you know words like impressive vocabulary and you say you don't pay attention to that stuff? What does impressive vocabulary even mean?"

"Does it really matter?" Aizawa snapped, "Getting back to Sayu's question, I don't know why they chose to use letters to represent themselves. L did it, and so did Near while we were working on the Kira Case. We can ask A about it if she contacts us again."

No one said anything, so Aizawa continued.

"Getting back to what I was saying earlier, I was contacted by this A person. She wants to work with us-her and the SPK. Something similar to what we did during the Kira Case, although it's probable that we'll end up sharing a headquarters and our information. Do you think it's worth the risk?"

"Near found Kira before we did," Mogi said, "Even though we should have guessed first. I think we should let the SPK work with us."

Matsuda nodded.

"Anything to find these guys."

Naoki shrugged.

"Sure. Go for it. I'm cool with anything."

"You're just saying that because you think there will be cute girls on their team," Callie giggled.

"I got all the cute girls I need right here in this office," Naoki said, winking at Callie.

Aizawa knew he wasn't supposed to have seen the glare that Mogi directed at Naoki, but he couldn't exactly miss it.

_"So he does care…"_

"Callie?" he prompted, "Sayu? What do you think?"

Callie shrugged.

"I guess if Mogi thinks they're cool, they must be," she said, smiling at Mogi, who scowled and looked away.

Sayu appeared deep in thought for several minutes.

"I think that if you, Mogi, and Matsuda think it's wise, we shouldn't argue," she said finally. "I don't know these people, but if they worked to catch Kira, and you trust them…"

Aizawa sighed. He did not want to enlist the SPK's help, but it looked like there would be no getting out of it now.

"All right," he said, "A said that she would contact me at noon. So, we wait."

* * *

And wait they did, until, finally, Aizawa's laptop beeped, and the A insignia filled the screen.

"Mr. Aizawa?" the voice of Amity said, "Have you made your decision?"

"Yes," Aizawa said, "The rest of my team are here with me. They have all agreed that it would be for the best if we teamed up with you."

"Excellent," Amity said, "I will be at your office momentarily. Please wait there until I arrive."

The A disappeared from the screen, leaving Aizawa and the others to stare at each other in silence.

"Well," Matsuda said, "Guess we'd better get ready to meet A."

* * *

For some weird reason, Matsuda was very nervous. He was usually nervous, of course. Nervous that he would spill his coffee all over his suit-when his suit was actually clean, that is. Worried that he would somehow let it slip to Sayu that, yes, Light Yagami had been Kira, and he had killed him. And, of course, he was scared that he would do something that would hurt his friends. Something that might cause somebody's life to be sacrificed because he, for some reason, had to be kept alive. Because his friends just didn't understand how much it hurt to keep living.

But right now, waiting for a person named A, a person whom he had never seen or even spoken to, he was afraid. Because, what if she was just like L? If he was only the resident idiot-and he knew he was-would he be able to cope with hearing that from her? He wasn't so sure. He had nearly done crazy stuff because of comments from his friends-comments that had probably been spoken out of concern.

Then, there was a sharp knock on the door of Aizawa's office. Aizawa went to open it, composed, calm, and looking incredibly normal for someone who had been experiencing a living hell in the last weeks. Unlike Matsuda, who was scared, although he really didn't know what there was to be afraid of.

But when the door opened, Matsuda saw a person who was really quite normal looking. A small, thin girl with deep brown hair and sharp green eyes.

"_You_ are A?" Aizawa asked.

"Yes," the girl said, as if she was used to having her identity questioned. Either that, or, like L and Near, she was simply that emotionless. "But you may call me Amity. That is what the SPK refers to me as."

"All right, Amity," Aizawa said, "Are the rest of the SPK here with you?"

"No," Amity said, "Rester brought me here, but Lidner and Gevanni remained at headquarters. I assume that you will accompany me there at some point, once I have determined that I can trust each of you."

Aizawa looked annoyed that Amity would even suggest that one of the people in the room could be untrustworthy, but he nodded.

"With your permission, I'd like to introduce the rest of my team."

Amity nodded.

"Proceed, please."

"No, wait," Mogi said suddenly, "I'm not falling for this again."

"What?" Aizawa asked.

"If she was Kira, we'd all be dead once you introduced us," Matsuda said suddenly, remembering the first time he had ever met L. "Remember…? I mean, yeah, she's not Kira. Kira's dead. But she could still be someone behind this whole murder thing."

"Right," Aizawa said, "So…we need proof that she is not a threat. How do we get that?"

"No need," a familiar but unrealistic voice said. "I can provide your proof."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen: Keeping the Secret

Aizawa glared at the computer. Although he had nothing against it, he couldn't help but be annoyed at the boy who had evidently decided to contact them through it…and had contacted them even though Aizawa had been assured that he would have to have nothing to do with Near.

"There you are," Amity said. "Although, Near, don't you think it would have been more efficient to have called Rester and made him walk up here?"

"They could have blackmailed Rester," Near responded, "They cannot blackmail me. They do not know my weakness."

"They could take away his finger puppets," Matsuda whispered to Naoki.

"I heard that, Mr. Matsuda," Near said, "I can easily replace those finger puppets. Furthermore, I need a new set, whether or not you were to take them. And, since you don't know where to find me…"

"All right, do you really need to analyze Matsuda's theoretical abduction of your toys?" Aizawa snapped. "We've got our proof, she's with you. You can go now."

"I can see that you are not pleased with this arrangement, Mr. Aizawa," Near said, "I am sorry. I do not mean to inconvenience you. I had thought that you would be willing to cooperate with me to prevent the deaths of your teammates."

Aizawa was about to shoot back a rant about the fact that he had been completely outvoted, and if it was up to him, Amity would be on her way back to wherever Near was at the moment, when Mogi stepped in.

"We are glad to have your help, Near," he said.

"Thank you, Mr. Mogi, although it is not me who will be helping you. I believe I can trust you at least to make Amity feel welcome."

There was a click, and the screen returned to normal.

"Well," Aizawa said to Amity, "I suppose you have an entire list of things we're doing wrong that you want us to change."

* * *

Amity stared at Aizawa. He had seemed nice enough when she had first arrived, but after Near's intervention, he seemed to have changed completely.

"If you do not want me here, Mr. Aizawa, I won't waste my time," she said coldly, "I have a murderer to catch."

She turned to the door and reached for the handle. It was likely that she would end up being summoned back later, but for the time being, she was not going to stay in the same room with the angry Aizawa, who evidently hated her best friend, who also happened to be the smartest person on earth.

She expected someone to say something, but no one did, so she opened the door and walked out.

* * *

"Well, that was nicely handled," Sayu said to Aizawa, "Why do you have to be so…so…"

"Annoying beyond all reason?" Naoki asked, "It's his nature."

Matsuda ignored them both and ran for the door. He didn't know why, but he felt like they couldn't let Amity leave. They needed her to help them, no matter what Aizawa thought.

* * *

Amity had not expected someone to come after her, but she had only made it about halfway down the hall before she heard footsteps coming toward her.

"Hey, wait a minute!"

She turned around, albeit a little reluctantly. Out of six people, only one had actually cared that she was present, apparently. Not that Near would have let this affect him. But she was not Near.

Amity was not very surprised to see that Touta Matsuda had come after her, although she had to wonder if he had been selected, or if he had come on his own. He looked nervous, but if his file was any proof, he was both nervous and impulsive, so it was likely that he had come on his own initiative.

"Yes, Mr. Matsuda?"

"Uh…can you…come back?" Matsuda asked, "I mean…Aizawa doesn't mean what he says, most of the time. He's kinda stressed out right now. This is really kind of personal for him."

"I am aware of Mr. Aizawa's connections to this case," Amity said, "I am also aware of your connections to certain people in that room, Touta Matsuda."

"Near gave you our files?" Matsuda asked nervously.

"Naturally," Amity said, "Before I go back in there-which I will, by the way-I would like to ask you something."

"Ask away," Matsuda said, laughing nervously.

"How much do Sayu Yagami, Callie Suzuki, and Mizu Naoki know?"

"About what?" Matsuda asked.

"You know perfectly well," Amity said, watching carefully so that she could note his reaction.

Matsuda flinched.

"T-they don't know anything," he stammered, "They…they think Light was k-killed by K-k-kira, not m-me."

"I see," Amity said, "So you believe that you killed him?"

"I shot him," Matsuda said, suddenly appearing very interested in his shoes. "I shot him five times."

"You would prefer that they not know the truth?" Amity said.

"Y-yes," Matsuda said, "Particularly Sayu. If you tell the others, one of them will probably tell her."

_"So Touta Matsuda has feelings for Sayu Yagami," _Amity noted, filing the fact away in her mind for future reference. _"And she does not know what he did."_

"Very well, Mr. Matsuda," she said, "I will not disclose this information to your friends unless it is absolutely necessary.

Matsuda looked relieved.

"Thanks," he said, "That…means a lot to me."

Amity nodded.

"You are welcome, Mr. Matsuda."

"Just call me Matsuda," the black-haired man replied, "Being called 'Mr. Matsuda' makes me feel old."

"Very well," Amity said, "Shall we go back?"

"Sure," Matsuda said, "Whatever you want…um…Amity."

* * *

When they returned to the office, Matsuda went in first, hoping Aizawa didn't plan to shout at him in front of Amity and the others. Amity had been unusually nice, compared to the detectives who had come before her-or so Matsuda thought. Of course, he didn't know Near very well-they had only met once-but the white-haired boy seemed just like L. And while Matsuda admired L, he had always been ridiculed by the detective, and he wasn't at all eager to repeat the process.

To his relief, Aizawa merely shook his head when Matsuda and Amity entered.

"That was fast," he said, "All right, Amity. Mogi has convinced me to be civil to you, so go ahead. What do you want to tell us?"

"I do not want to tell you anything," Amity said, "I think you're doing a fine job with your investigation. In fact, the SPK have been doing the same thing as you have. I know this because Gevanni saw Matsuda and Miss Yagami while he was investigating."

"I see," Aizawa said. "Well, then, Amity. Let's talk. Do you have any leads? So far, we've got nothing. It's only a matter of time before one of us is killed…"


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen: A Deadly Choice

After some time, Aizawa and Amity decided that they would let their team take the rest of the day off, then regroup later on. As Amity put it "It might be good to allow our teams to become acclimated to each other. If anyone has any ideas, please notify Mr. Aizawa or myself."

So, the team had the day off. The trouble was…they had no idea what to do.

"Hey, Mogi?" Callie asked, after a long, awkward pause that resulted in Sayu going to call her mother, Naoki saying that he had something he had to do and leaving, and Amity exiting, saying that she needed to notify the rest of the SPK that they were now officially working with the Japanese Task Force.

"Yes?" Mogi said. He really hoped the girl hadn't formulated any ideas that included him following her around. He didn't like the way things were progressing. Earlier, when Naoki had started flirting with Callie, he had started feeling…jealous. And this, he knew very well, was not good.

_"When you start to be jealous…then it means…that you are developing feelings for someone. And I cannot allow myself to get close to Callie in any way. I will_ not_ allow it."_

"Do you wanna go walk around or something?" Callie asked, "There's, like, nothing to do."

Mogi sighed.

_"If I don't go with her, she'll go by herself…and anything could happen to her out there."_

"Fine," he said, "But only for a little while."

"Yay!" Callie squeaked, "Let's go!"

Mogi threw a helpless glance at Aizawa.

"Call me when you want us back here," he mumbled, as Callie pulled him outside.

* * *

Matsuda stood up, intending to go find some way to kill time. But, before he got to the door, Aizawa stopped him.

"Matsuda. Wait a minute."

Matsuda turned around.

"What's up?" he asked, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice.

_"What'd I do?"_

"Sit down," Aizawa said.

Matsuda sat.

_"Yeah, I'm definitely in trouble."_

But, to his surprise, Aizawa didn't start lecturing him about some unknown offense. He asked him a question.

"How are you feeling?"

"Uh…fine," Matsuda said, "What's this about?"

"Nothing," Aizawa said, "Just making sure you were all right."

"Okay," Matsuda said, "I'm fine, Aizawa, really, I am. I'm doing a lot better. No suicide attempts in the last week!"

"That's not funny, Matsuda, and you know it."

"Yeah, you're right," Matsuda said, "So…"

He stared at Aizawa, suddenly seeing just how tired the older man looked.

"Are _you _okay?"

"What?" Aizawa mumbled distractedly, "Oh, I'm fine, Matsuda. Don't worry about me."

"You sure?" Matsuda asked. Aizawa really did look tired. Not just tired. Exhausted.

"What makes you think I'm not?" Aizawa asked.

"Well…you've kinda been working really hard…and you look really…uh…I don't know."

"I'm just tired, kid. Quit worrying. Go find Sayu or Naoki and enjoy yourself for once."

_"No, he's not okay," _Matsuda thought as he left the office, _"He called me kid again."_

* * *

Long after Matsuda was gone, Aizawa remained alone. He shook his head at the closed door.

"No, Matsuda," he said, although he knew that the young man was long gone, "I'm not all right. I'm exhausted. I'm hurt. I'm trying to keep you all alive. I don't know if I can do it."

* * *

Amity slipped silently into the backseat of the black car.

"Take me back to headquarters, Rester," she said.

"Uh…sorry… I'm not Rester," the person in the front said as he maneuvered the car out of the parking area.

"Gevanni," Amity said, "Where is Rester?"

"We decided to switch," Gevanni said, "There was nothing to do at headquarters."

"So you called Rester and pestered him into letting you come over here and take over his job."

"No," Gevanni said, "Lidner bet that I couldn't sit here until you were done with your meeting."

"I find it highly unlikely that Lidner would bet on such a trivial matter," Amity said.

"Okay, fine. I made Rester switch with me," Gevanni admitted.

"Which was what I said at the beginning," Amity said, "You could have saved yourself a lot of time by just answering in the affirmative."

Gevanni shrugged.

"I _was_ bored. Your meeting was really long."

"Indeed," Amity said, "And most unproductive. Mr. Aizawa practically attempted to chase me away."

"Did he?" Gevanni asked.

"You do not need to know that," Amity said, "But, yes, he did, until Matsuda came to bring me back."

"He's the unpredictable one," Gevanni noted. "I bet you like that."

"He's quite like you, actually," Amity said, "Although, unlike you, he does not need a lesson in manners. Or, at the very least, he does not appear to."

"That's harsh," Gevanni said.

"Be quiet, Gevanni," Amity said, "Tell me, how well do you know the members of the Japanese Task Force?"

"You tell me to be quiet and then ask me a question?" Gevanni mumbled. "Uh…not too well, actually. I've barely ever talked to any of them."

"I see," Amity said, and then remained silent for the rest of the drive, much to Gevanni's confusion.

"Thought you were actually being social for once," he mumbled.

* * *

Once they arrived back at headquarters, Gevanni disappeared somewhere, leaving Amity to go locate Rester herself.

It wasn't hard to find him-their headquarters wasn't that big, after all.

"Rester," she said, skipping any sort of greeting altogether, "How did Gevanni convince you to give him your job?"

"He came and sat on top of my car until I let him in," Rester said, "Even I run out of patience eventually."

"He needs something to occupy his time," Amity said.

"I noticed."

"Rester," Amity said, "I do not know how to deal with Mr. Aizawa."

"What is he doing?" Rester asked.

"He is being decidedly unpleasant," Amity said, "It started when Near attempted to give proof that I was not a threat."

"Near and Aizawa never got along very well," Rester said, "So…did you decide anything?"

"We decided that we needed a way to get our teams used to each other," Amity said, "We couldn't think of anything, however."

Rester was silent for several minutes.

"This may sound strange," he said, "But we could always act like normal people for an evening."

"What are you suggesting?" Amity asked.

"We could go out to dinner at some random place, go get ice cream, go get in a fight…" Gevanni proposed as he entered the room with Halle Lidner.

"I would hardly call getting in a fight normal," Halle said.

"Maybe not," Gevanni said, "But I've been tailing people and investigating stuff for so long…a fight would be good right now."

"Men," Halle muttered.

"I think it's a good idea," Gevanni said, ignoring Halle's comment, "It would be nice to get out for once."

"You will still have to keep a low profile," Amity warned, "There is no telling who may be watching."

"I can do it," Gevanni assured her.

"I will contact Mr. Aizawa," Amity said reluctantly. She rather disliked going out in public…but, in this case, she supposed she would have to.

* * *

Mogi would never have admitted it to anyone, but he was actually having fun. With Callie. It was disturbing to him that he was actually forgetting to be wary around the girl.

"This is really fun!" Callie said as they walked, "Thanks for coming with me, Mogi!"

"We haven't done anything yet," Mogi said.

"I know that," Callie said, "But it's kinda nice to just not do anything, right? I think its fun!"

Mogi said nothing.

_"The last time that I did nothing and was pleased by it was…exactly the times that I don't want to think about. Callie, why are you so…"_

"Are you okay, Mogi?" Callie asked.

"Yes," Mogi said, "Where do you want to go?"

Callie shrugged.

"I don't care. Where do you want to go?"

"Wherever you want," Mogi replied.

Callie twisted her hair around her finger.

"Well…uh…guess we could go shopping. I mean, you're a guy, so if you don't want to, we don't have to."

_"And…she says exactly what Misa would say…and adding a 'depends if you want to' on the end…"_

"Whatever you want," he repeated, almost without realizing it.

"Okay," Callie said, "Let's go!"

At that moment, Mogi's cell phone rang. Relieved to have a momentary excuse to stop, he answered it.

"Mogi, its Aizawa. Amity wants to know if all of us would like to go out for lunch and then…what did she say 'do something that does not involve Gevanni fulfilling his wish to get in a fight'?"

"Now?" Mogi asked.

"If you want to," Aizawa grumbled, "I have to go call Matsuda next and get him to find Naoki. The kid either doesn't have a cell phone, or he doesn't care to give me his number."

"We'll be there in about a half hour," Mogi said. "We've gone a pretty good ways."

He hung up and turned to Callie.

"Change of plans," he said, "We're going back to headquarters. Aizawa wants us."

"Okay," Callie said, "Too bad we didn't get to stay out here longer, though. This was kinda fun."

"Yeah," Mogi said. "It was."

He wasn't really sure whether it had been fun or not, but it had been peaceful. And peace was one thing he had been very short of lately.

* * *

Matsuda had taken Aizawa's advice-and, since Sayu appeared to have gone home, he had to settle for hanging out with Naoki.

"So, where are we going?" the young man asked, as they wandered down the halls of the police station.

Matsuda shrugged.

"I don't know. Aizawa told me to go enjoy my day off, so we'd better come up with something to do."

At that moment, another man appeared from around the corner. Naoki waved cheerfully to him.

"Hi, Shinta!"

The other man-Shinta-was tall, with slightly ragged black hair and dark eyes. When he smiled, it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Hello, Naoki. Who's your friend?"

"This is Matsuda," Naoki said, "Matsuda, this is Shinta. He was one of my first friends here."

"Nice to meet you," Matsuda said.

Shinta nodded.

"The same to you, Matsuda. Naoki has told me a lot about you."

He smiled, and it something about his smile frightened Matsuda.

_"This guy's kinda creepy…"_

"So," Shinta said, turning to Naoki, "Where are you off to?"

"Not a clue," Naoki said cheerfully, "We've got the afternoon off, so we're trying to decide what to do."

Naoki and Shinta kept on making polite conversation, and Matsuda joined in once in awhile. After a time, he started to wonder what it was about Shinta that had disturbed him. Now that they were just talking, he seemed nice enough…

* * *

It was starting to rain now, prompting Callie to walk more quickly. The girl was shivering, her arms crossed over her chest.

"What a day to wear a white top!" she grumbled. Almost immediately, she felt something being draped over her shoulders. She looked up in surprise, to see that Mogi had removed his jacket.

"That should help," he said, and kept walking.

Callie slipped her arms inside the jacket. It was much too big, but Mogi was right, it did help.

"Thanks, Mogi!" she said.

"Any time."

* * *

Matsuda was actually enjoying himself after all. Any doubts he had had about Shinta had disappeared into thin air.

Naoki had been telling a funny story about his high school days, when he had evidently been something of an accident prone class clown, when Matsuda's phone rang.

"Hello?" Matsuda said.

"Matsuda, it's me," Aizawa's voice informed him, "Where are you?"

"Uh…about two hallways down from your office."

"Is Naoki with you?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Amity had an idea, so we all have to go along with it," Aizawa said, "Bring Naoki, and come on."

"Okay," Matsuda said, "Be there in a minute."

He turned to Shinta and Naoki.

"We'd better go," he said, "It was nice to meet you, Shinta."

Shinta smiled.

"Same here," he said, "Now, I believe I was headed in this direction in the first place…"

"Hey…if Aizawa wants us of us, won't he want Sayu too?" Naoki asked.

"I'll call her," Matsuda said, "Head down to the office, and I'll catch up in a second."

"Okay," Naoki agreed, "See you there."

* * *

At some undisclosed location, two men were walking to some destination, alone-the same two men who had previously been seen watching the meeting in Matsuda's apartment.

Suddenly, the older of the two twisted the other's arm behind his back.

"Ouch!" the other protested, "What was that for?"

"You need to find a way to get me in on that investigation," the older man hissed, "Unless you want to kill Touta Matsuda yourself."

The other man froze and started to turn pale.

"Do we gotta kill _him_? I mean, he's been really nice to me…"

"If you're going to back out now…"

"No, no. It's okay. Yeah, you'd probably better come. I can convince them to let you help. The more the merrier."

"You'd better. Unless you want to join your friend Touta Matsuda when I kill him…"

* * *

**Whoa...this thing topped 2000 words...and the worst part is, there was basically no plot development. Well...obviously...there was a little... Anyways. CLIFFHANGER! Sorry...could not resist...I am going to sleep now. No, that's a lie. I'm going to watch Blue Exorcist. Goodbye. ;)**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty: Betrayal

When Matsuda arrived at the office, along with Naoki and Shinta, he found the rest of the group already there, with the exception of Sayu. It took him a minute to register that Callie was wearing Mogi's jacket, but when he did, he nudged Naoki.

"Hey, Naoki, look at that."

"What the…?" Naoki asked, "Hey, Mogi, so does this make it official?"

Mogi glared at him.

"Does this make _what_ official?"

"You like Callie!" Matsuda announced, "Come on, admit it."

Mogi glared at both Matsuda and Naoki for several seconds, then turned and stalked off into Aizawa's office. A few minutes later, Aizawa came out.

"Matsuda," he said sharply, "Naoki. I need to talk to you both. Right now."

Matsuda glanced nervously at Naoki, who giggled worriedly.

"We're dead, I guess," he joked.

The two young men followed Aizawa a short distance away from the group. Aizawa's face was serious.

"I know you two were only clowning around," he said, "But I want you to stop teasing Mogi about Callie. There are things about Mogi's past that you don't know and don't need to know. So…just don't tease him about it."

"Okay," Naoki said.

Matsuda felt disappointed in himself…and not for the first time.

"Sorry, Aizawa," he said, "We didn't know."

"Its fine, kid," Aizawa said, "Now, I just have one more question for you two."

"Okay?" Naoki asked.

"Who's that?" Aizawa asked, gesturing to Shinta, who was still hanging around the edge of the group.

"Oh, that's Naoki's friend, Shinta," Matsuda said, "We were talking to him earlier."

"Hey, so…uh…if we're going out to dinner or something…" Naoki said, "That's not technically just a Task Force thing, is it?"

"Naoki," Aizawa said, "I see no reason to bring your friend along. We're going to have a lot of people with us as it is."

"Hey…you know…" Matsuda said, "He could be a good cover."

"What do you mean?" Aizawa asked.

"I mean, isn't it gonna look a little weird to have just the Task Force and a bunch of people from out of the country hanging around together?" Matsuda asked. "Having Shinta there should confuse anyone tailing us, you know?"

"You have a point," Aizawa said, "But I'll have to check with Amity before I can make a decision."

"I hope she says yes!" Naoki said. He sounded enthusiastic, but his face didn't match his tone. For some reason, Naoki looked a little scared.

* * *

Amity did say yes, after some prompting from Gevanni, who agreed with Matsuda's theory.

But then, there was the matter of transportation to consider. They were trying to blend in, so police cars wouldn't do. Amity's limousine was less than inconspicuous as well.

They ended up borrowing Sachiko Yagami's car, and Mogi drove Callie to her house to get her car.

Finally, they all squeezed into the two cars. To Matsuda's slight annoyance, it was apparent that acting like normal people meant that it didn't matter that there were not enough seats in the vehicles, and, because he was smaller than most of the others, he ended up being stuffed into the back seat with Naoki, Callie, and Sayu.

"I really hate you," he said to Aizawa, whom he considered responsible for his current discomfort, "Scoot over, Naoki!"

"It can't be that far to this restaurant, Matsuda," Aizawa said, "I'm sure you'll live."

"I'm sure I won't," Matsuda mumbled.

* * *

Contrary to his belief, however, Matsuda did survive the car trip, and, once they got to the restaurant-an out of the way little place-he relaxed a little. There were too many of them to all sit together, so Matsuda ended up sitting with Callie, Sayu, Naoki, Shinta, and Gevanni, while the others sat together.

"Do they think they're too old for us or something?" Naoki asked.

"Uh…I know for a fact that I'm older than Amity," Gevanni said, "I don't know about the rest of you."

"What do I look like to you?" Matsuda asked. "I'm thirty."

"You look like a teenager," Naoki giggled.

"Well, in that case, you look like a six year-old," Matsuda replied.

Sayu sighed.

"We are supposed to enjoy ourselves. Maybe they had us sit here on purpose."

"What, to keep us from depression?" Matsuda asked, "Uh…I think I'm seated at the wrong table!"

Everyone laughed.

"You're so silly, Matsu," Callie said between giggles, "You're, like, the least depressed person on the planet!"

Matsuda stared at her.

"Um…do you know anything about me? Has Sayu told you nothing?"

He decided to make it all a big joke, even though he didn't really feel like laughing. Acting normal was a once in a lifetime chance these days.

"Misrepresented," he said, in his best imitation of comic sadness. "Even my best friend does not truly know me!"

The table erupted in shouts of laughter, much to Matsuda's delight. Shinta looked as if he didn't really appreciate the humor-but at least he laughed. Then, he noticed something. Sayu wasn't laughing. She was staring at her food, lips set in a grim line.

_"What'd I do?" _Matsuda thought, _"I just called you my best friend. I thought you'd like that, Sayu…"_

He couldn't ask her about it in the restaurant, though, so he sat there in silence while his friends laughed, watching Sayu, and wondering how on earth he had managed to screw up this time.

* * *

After dinner, the group left the restaurant, but ended up standing outside, talking. Matsuda stood slightly apart from the group with Shinta and Naoki. He was so busy watching Sayu, who was talking to Halle Lidner, that he almost missed Shinta's comment.

"Did you hear something?"

"Huh?" Matsuda said, "What do you mean?"

"I thought I heard someone call for help," Shinta said, "Did you hear something, Naoki?"

Naoki looked nervous. Maybe even a little scared, although Matsuda had no idea why.

"Uh…yeah, I think so."

"It came from back there," Shinta said, pointing toward a dark alley in the back of the building, "We should probably go check it out."

He turned to Matsuda.

"Do you have your gun?"

Matsuda nodded.

"I always have it. Why?"

"Let Shinta have it," Naoki suggested, "He's the best shot I know."

Matsuda paused. Something was definitely up with Naoki. He looked pale and scared. But Shinta looked calm and collected, ready for action. So it was probably all right.

He handed the gun to Shinta.

Shinta smiled-again, Matsuda was scared by that smile-and then he turned and headed toward the alley. Naoki followed.

For a moment, Matsuda debated not going with them. But he quickly dismissed the idea.

_"Whatever's going on, I'm not gonna be the one who backs out 'cause he was scared."_

He trotted off after Shinta and Naoki…but when he entered the alley, it was empty. There was no sign of anyone, including Naoki and Shinta.

"Uh…guys?"

He heard something click behind him. He jumped and turned around…to see the last thing he would have expected.

Shinta and Naoki were blocking the entrance to the alley…and Shinta had a gun-ironically, Matsuda's own-pointed at his head.

"What the…?" Matsuda couldn't finish the sentence. He had a very bad feeling, but maybe that was just what happened when somebody pointed a gun at you.

"What's going on?" he asked, and it wasn't until much later that he realized how pitiful it must have sounded. Like he was begging them to say it was just a joke.

"Isn't it obvious?" Shinta asked, "Even for the idiot, it shouldn't be that difficult to figure out."

"You've got a _gun_ pointed at my _head_!" Matsuda squeaked.

"Precisely," Shinta said calmly, "The last person who had a gun pointed at them because of my orders was your friend Hideki Ide."

It took a moment to register, but once it did, Matsuda realized just how much of an idiot he had been.

"That's right, Matsuda," Shinta said, "You helped out with everything. You got Naoki on the Investigation Team. You left your door unlocked so we could plant video cameras in your apartment. You even convinced Aizawa to let me come along today so that we could kill you. Because that's exactly what I'm going to do, Touta Matsuda. I'm going to kill you right here."

_"This is all wrong. Shinta's eyes have this weird insane light in them…light…insane…oh, god, this is not the time to be thinking about that… He has the gun pointed at my head… And Naoki… Naoki!"_

"You betrayed me?" Matsuda gasped, staring at Naoki, the fact finally registering. "You…you're a…"

"I'm sorry," Naoki whispered, "I did what I had to. I just did my job!"

"It doesn't matter whether he betrayed you," Shinta said, "You're going to die here, either way."

Matsuda glanced around desperately.

_"Hasn't anyone noticed that we're missing yet?"_

But no one came.

* * *

**I am sorry this is so late! I have had a really busy weekendish thing. Anyway, here, I reward your patience with...a cliffhanger. Some reward, I know. XD**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One: Shot in the Dark

_"So…this is it…?" _Matsuda thought, _"I'm gonna be next…"_

There was no use calling for help. By the time someone got here, Shinta would have shot him. And then whoever had come to help would probably die too.

Just as he finished that thought, someone stepped in front of him. Between him and Shinta.

"Naoki?!" Shinta yelled, "Get out of the way!"

"Naoki…" Matsuda gasped, "What are you…?"

"S-sorry," Naoki stuttered, although Matsuda wasn't sure whether the younger man was speaking to him or Shinta, "I'm taking m-matters into my o-own hands now."

"Get out of the way, you idiot!" Shinta roared.

"No," Naoki said, "I'm not moving. Matsuda's my friend, and I'm not gonna let you shoot him…unless you shoot me first."

* * *

Naoki glanced back over his shoulder at Matsuda.

_"This is the part where something very bad happens…" _he thought. But he was determined that nothing would happen. Two out of the three people standing in this alley were going to walk out of here alive…or none of them would.

"You won't shoot me, Shinta," he said steadily, keeping his eyes focused on the end of the alley. He felt pretty confident that Shinta wouldn't shoot him. He thought that if Shinta tried to convince him to move, it might buy Matsuda some time. Time to do what, Naoki didn't know. But it was time, and time was what they needed.

His train of thought was broken by a loud crack, and a moment later, he felt a burning pain in his shoulder. He was confused for a moment, until he noticed Shinta's smile, and heard Matsuda gasp.

_"He actually shot me…?"_

"Shinta…" he gasped, clutching his shoulder, "Why…?"

"If that's how you want to play the game, Naoki," Shinta said, laughing, "Then let's play."

Shinta raised the gun and fired again. Naoki tried to pull his own gun from inside his jacket, but it slipped through his fingers and fell to the ground.

Naoki leaped for the gun, and as he did, Shinta fired at him again. And again. And again.

Naoki fell to the ground, his gun still just out of reach. He tried to reach for it…it was so close…

But just as he was about to grab it, someone kicked it away into the shadows.

Naoki looked up to see Shinta standing over him, the gun pointed at his head. The young man barely recognized his so-called friend. Shinta seemed changed entirely.

"What have you become?" Naoki whispered fearfully.

Shinta laughed.

"Your killer."

"Shinta!" someone-not Matsuda-shouted.

Who it was, Naoki never knew. It didn't really matter. Whoever it was, their intervention was exactly what was needed. Shinta turned and ran. Where he went, and how he escaped, no one ever knew.

* * *

At this moment, Matsuda hated himself even more than usual. He had let Shinta trick him into giving up his gun, and then he had stood there while the other man shot…

_"Oh, no! Naoki!" _

Matsuda dashed over and knelt beside the brown-haired man, not even noticing Callie, Sayu, and Mogi.

"Naoki?" he whispered.

_"There's so much blood…why don't we find a doctor to put on the stupid investigation team? We got everything else."_

"M-m-matsuda?" Naoki wheezed.

"I'm right here," Matsuda said, "It's okay."

He wasn't sure why he was trying to reassure Naoki. It was definitely not okay.

"I-I'm sorry I s-set you up," Naoki whispered, "I didn't…"

"Hey, you did your job, right?" Matsuda said, "Everybody's got their flaws. You should've seen me. I fell off a building once."

He knew it wasn't the same thing. But he wanted Naoki to know he wasn't the only screw-up in the world. Not by a long shot.

"You d-don't hate me?" Naoki asked, "You s-should."

"I don't hate you," Matsuda said. "You're one of the best friends I ever had."

There was no reply. Naoki's eyes were closed, and it looked as if he was barely breathing.

"Hey, come on, Naoki," Matsuda gasped, "Stay awake."

"Matsuda?" someone asked.

Matsuda glanced upward. It was Mogi.

"Call an ambulance," he said, "I'll explain later."

Mogi complied, then went back to stand next to Callie and Sayu.

* * *

Aizawa arrived on the scene a few moments later. He took it all in with one swift glance. Callie, Sayu, and Mogi standing quietly, as if waiting for something, Matsuda kneeling next to an unmoving, bleeding Naoki, and the absence of Shinta.

"What happened?" he asked, crouching next to Matsuda.

"Shinta tried to shoot me," Matsuda whispered, "He was one of the ones-actually, he's the leader-he killed Ide. Naoki…Naoki stopped him from murdering me next. He saved my life."

Aizawa took a moment to examine his younger friend. Matsuda looked unhurt, but there was a slightly…guilty…expression on his face.

_"What isn't he telling me?" _Aizawa thought.

"Mogi, call an ambulance," he said.

"Already done."

"Then call the SPK and let them know we've found the source of the shooting. Don't tell them anything else. I want to explain to Amity in person. This is my fault, after all. I agreed to let Shinta come along."

"No, it's mine," Matsuda moaned, "I convinced you."

"You didn't know, kid," Aizawa said, "Everything will be all right."

"You didn't see it," Matsuda whispered, "You didn't see the look on Shinta's face. It was like Li…"

"Matsuda," Aizawa said quickly, with a quick glance at Sayu, "I promise, everything will be fine. The ambulance will be here soon, they'll take Naoki to the hospital, and he'll be fine. I promise."

* * *

It was all Matsuda could do to keep from crying. It was definitely not all right.

_"How many more people are gonna betray me? How many more secrets am I gonna have to keep? And more important, how long can I keep them from finding out about what really happened? They might do anything to Naoki-not Aizawa; he wouldn't hurt him-but the others. Amity…I don't know what she'd do…I don't know her. She might kill him. What am I gonna do now?"_


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two: Dangerous?

Amity and the rest of the SPK arrived on the scene shortly after the ambulance did.

"What is going on here?" Gevanni asked.

"Apparently, someone has been injured," Amity said, "We should find Aizawa."

It didn't take very long to find Aizawa and the others. They were all huddled together a short ways down the alley.

"What happened?" Gevanni asked.

"Mogi can tell you that," Aizawa said gruffly, "I need to speak with Amity. Alone."

Amity followed Aizawa to a short distance from the others.

"You have a lot of explaining to do," she said, and waited.

"I know," Aizawa said, "Long story short, Matsuda, Naoki, and Shinta wandered off-I'm not sure when, Matsuda didn't tell me-and, according to Matsuda, Shinta tried to shoot him, and Naoki got in the way. That was around when Mogi showed up. We don't know where Shinta went, but I'm guessing he's long gone. And, also according to Matsuda, Shinta is…the leader of the people who…who killed Ide."

_"He could have explained this to me without separating us from the others. Why does he choose not to?"_

"I assume full responsibility for what happened," Aizawa said, "I agreed to allow Shinta to come with us. If he had stayed behind, Naoki wouldn't be on his way to the hospital right now."

"Matsuda and Naoki convinced you, did they not?" Amity said, "And I gave the final permission."

_"I see. You wish to take the blame so I will not direct it at Matsuda. Your concern for him is most uncharacteristic of you, Mr. Aizawa. What is it about Matsuda that makes everyone care so deeply for him?"_

"Yes, but it shouldn't have gotten past me," Aizawa said, "Those kids don't know any better-they're both idiots…but I should have known."

"I see," Amity said, "I believe that the best thing we can do now is to go home and continue this in the morning. We now know who we are looking for. It is only a matter of finding him. Also, I will need to speak with Matsuda."

"That can wait," Aizawa said.

"Pardon?" Amity said.

_"You can't stop me, Mr. Aizawa. You will not get in the way of the mission."_

"You have no idea what he's been through," Aizawa said, "He thinks this is his fault, which is going to bring up…other things. Wait until tomorrow. If he's feeling better then, I will let you speak to him. End of discussion."

_"I am not a child, Mr. Aizawa," _Amity thought, _"I _will _speak with Touta Matsuda if that is what the case requires."_

The girl turned and marched back to where Mogi had just finished explaining what had happened to the rest of the SPK.

She fully intended to interrogate Matsuda-and hold Aizawa back by force if she had to, but then she saw him. He looked sad, and hurt, and afraid, kneeling on the ground, staring out into the night.

Amity stopped. She was not sure what she felt. Pity? Sadness? In any other instance, she would have gone ahead with her plan. But she did not. She crouched next to Matsuda.

"Matsuda?" she said, hardly knowing why her voice was so soft for once.

He looked up, his brown eyes wide and sad. Amity forgot what she had been going to say.

"Courage," she said, then stood up quickly.

"Gevanni, Rester, Linder," she said, regaining her composure, "We're going."

"We don't have your car," Gevanni said.

"We will take Callie's and leave it at the station," Amity said, "We are leaving. Now."

"Hang on, this is my car we're talking about here," Callie protested.

"Callie," Mogi said, "Let them go."

"Fine," Callie mumbled, handing the keys to Rester. "But you better take care of it."

* * *

Amity was relieved to be back in the familiar black limousine. Callie's car was small, and there was no escape from the restless Gevanni, who kept trying to make her tell him why they had had to leave so quickly.

The girl stared out the window, watching the city slide by. She was thinking.

_"Is it possible that this attack was planned? It seems very well thought out. The separation of these three from the group…the only thing that seems to have gone wrong with Shinta's plan was Naoki's intervention. But why would that have been unexpected? It shouldn't have been, unless…"_

Amity stiffened.

"Hey, Amity, are you okay back there?" Gevanni asked. She must have made some sort of noise.

Amity did not reply. Her green eyes were hard, her expression determined.

_"If Naoki is a spy, then we can solve this case. If he is not a spy, then why did Shinta not expect his intervention? Is Naoki a spy or not? Touta Matsuda is the only person who knows for sure."_

* * *

When they finally arrived at their headquarters, Amity silently marched to her room. Once there, she fired up her laptop and contacted Near.

"Near."

"Amity," Near's voice said, "What have you found out?"

"We found the leader of the group who killed Hideki Ide," Amity said, "His name is Shinta…but he escaped, after injuring a young police officer."

"Which one?" Near asked.

"Naoki, the new one," Amity replied, "The circumstances were very strange. According to Matsuda, Shinta was planning to shoot him. Yet it was Naoki who was shot. If Shinta did not expect this intervention, then either he did not mean to bring Naoki along, expected him to be too afraid to act impulsively, or Naoki is an accomplice."

"And what do you think?" Near asked, "You have the ability to think for yourself, Amity. Use it."

"Naoki seems like the most innocent person on the force," Amity said, "Although all the evidence fits, I am reluctant to consider him a suspect."

"You have said nothing about Matsuda," Near said, "He could also be a suspect."

"No," Amity said, remembering the look on Matsuda's face when she had last seen him. "He is not a suspect. He was devastated by what happened."

"You will need to question him, no matter what your personal feelings are," Near told her.

"I will," Amity said, "I can handle him, Near. He's just a child at heart."

_"A hurt, scared child…"_

"If you allow yourself to grow close to him, you will be hurt," Near told her, "He's unpredictable. I would go so far as to call him dangerous."

"Good night, Near," Amity said. The girl turned away from the computer. She did not want to discuss Matsuda. She knew he was dangerous-his file testified to that-but she couldn't bring herself to believe that he would hurt someone willingly.

_"No, if anyone is a spy, it is not Matsuda. It is Naoki."_

* * *

**Well...I'm not sure how I feel about this. Amity's acting weird. Very weird. I'm shutting up now. XD**


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three: Truth and Lies

They met as usual the following morning-almost as if nothing had happened. Callie was absent-Mogi said that she had called him and asked to stay home that day-but all the others were there. Matsuda was sitting by himself in the corner of Aizawa's office when Amity arrived. He looked a little better, but he still looked worried and very tired.

"How is Naoki?" Amity asked Aizawa.

"They think he'll live," Aizawa said, "Nothing's certain yet, but I hope he'll be all right-for Matsuda's sake."

"I see," Amity said. She debated telling Aizawa her theory about Naoki, but decided against it. Better to wait and collect more evidence.

The girl had planned to wait until Matsuda left the room, and follow him. However, she hadn't considered the possibility that he might slip out while she was engaged in a discussion. She had just finished a conversation with Aizawa when she realized that Matsuda-and Sayu-had disappeared.

* * *

Matsuda didn't understand how the others could just sit there and talk about the investigation when someone had been hurt-almost killed. But, then again, he wasn't like them. The others had always seemed to consider him a liability…was it possible that they thought of Naoki in the same way?

At any rate, worrying about Naoki had driven him out of the office full of people, and into the empty halls.

"Matsuda?"

He jumped and turned around to see Sayu watching him.

"Oh…uh… Hey, Sayu," he said nervously.

"What are you doing out here?" Sayu asked.

"I…I don't know," Matsuda mumbled. "I'm just worried about Naoki."

"I'm worried about him too," Sayu said, "But I'm worried about you too, Matsuda. You seem on edge lately. Especially now that Amity and the SPK have shown up. What are you worried about?"

"Uh…I don't know," Matsuda said, "It's just…I guess…its weird having them here. They're not connected to this case."

He knew he was lying. Of course Amity and the SPK set him on edge-because they knew what he had done. And, unlike Aizawa and Mogi, they hadn't made a decision not to tell Sayu or her mother the truth. They could say anything they wanted, and there would be no problem.

_"Except…maybe Amity won't? Maybe she'll keep the secret?"_

"Are you sure that's all?" Sayu asked.

_"Oh, Sayu, trust me. That's not all…but I can't tell you anything else."_

"I'm okay," he said, "Let's go back."

Sayu frowned, but she didn't try to talk a confession out of him. And for that, Matsuda was grateful.

* * *

Later that day, after Mogi and Sayu had gone home, and the SPK were about to leave, Amity finally got her chance. Rester, Lidner, and Gevanni had gone down to the car, and Amity had been about to join them, when Aizawa stepped out of the room for a moment, leaving her and Matsuda alone.

Amity looked over at the young man. He had leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling.

"Matsuda?" she asked. She instantly regretted it. Matsuda jumped, causing his chair to fall over.

A moment later, he sat up, rubbing his head.

"Ouch."

"I'm sorry," Amity said, "I did not mean to scare you."

"It's okay," Matsuda said, "So…uh…you wanted me for something?"

"Yes," Amity said, "I want to speak with you…about last night."

She watched Matsuda's reaction carefully, searching his expression for any signs of guilt. She was not pleased with what she saw. Matsuda's face turned pale, and when he spoke, he stuttered.

"L-last night? D-didn't Aizawa t-tell you already?"

_"He knows something," _Amity thought, _"But what? Is it his own guilt he is hiding…or another's?"_

"Aizawa did not go into any great detail," she said, "I thought that since you were an eyewitness, you could give a correct account of what took place."

Matsuda suddenly appeared very interested in straightening the collar of his suit. He was obviously avoiding making eye contact with Amity, obviously trying to come up with some excuse to get out of explaining.

"Matsuda," Amity said, "I know why you do not want to discuss this with me. I have analyzed the situation, and I have determined that you are a liar."

"W-w-what?" Matsuda stammered. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Do not lie to me, Touta Matsuda," Amity said softly, "You will not succeed in tricking me. I am one of the smartest people you have ever encountered. Not only that, but I would have no problem turning you in if I believed that you had committed a crime. I will not allow myself to make the mistake of growing so close to anyone that I no longer believe they can be guilty. I have known you for less than two days. In that time, I have deduced that you care very deeply about the safety of your coworkers, especially Sayu Yagami. I have also deduced that you would do anything to keep the truth about her brother Light Yagami a secret from her. I do not believe that you are an accomplice of Shinta's. But there is a variable that cannot be overlooked. Shinta's attack was planned, but it went wrong because Naoki intervened-or so you say."

"Why do you think I would lie about it?" Matsuda asked, "Amity, do I look like a liar?"

"No, Touta Matsuda, you do not," Amity said, "But you have been lying to Sayu Yagami for almost two years. That makes you a practiced liar. So, I wonder if you have lied to Mr. Aizawa. I believe that either you or Naoki is Shinta's accomplice. The question is which one of you it is. If you are telling the truth, then you are also lying to protect Naoki, and Naoki is the spy. But, if you have lied, then Shinta fully intended to kill Naoki, and you gave him your weapon to throw suspicion off yourself. And if that is the case, Matsuda, then you are an accomplice. You helped kill your friend Hideki Ide and assisted in the attack on Mizu Naoki. Do you deny it?"

"Yes, yes I do!" Matsuda yelled, his voice surprisingly shrill.

Amity said nothing. For once, she was surprised.

_"I did not expect this reaction from you…"_

"You think I would do that?" Matsuda screamed, "You really think so? After everything I did to try and catch Kira, you think I would turn around and join the other side?"

"You are known for your unpredictability," Amity said unfeelingly. "You are capable of anything."

""If you think that, then you know nothing about me," Matsuda said. He wasn't screaming anymore. Instead, his voice was low and toneless.

"I don't care what you say. But if you think I would ever help them-the people who killed Ide, who hurt Naoki-then you know nothing about me."

He buried his head in his hands.

"I hate Kira," he whispered, "Oh, I understand what he wanted to do, all right. I understand, and he knew I understood. But he killed everyone-whether he meant to or not, whether they deserved it or not-he killed them. Him and his stupid notebook and his stupid justice. I wouldn't help anyone who supported him…now or then or ever."

_"He hates Kira," _Amity noted, _"But he does not hate Light Yagami?"_

"Stop your foolish crying, Matsuda," she said, "I know you would never do such a thing."

Matsuda looked up, confusion evident in his brown eyes.

"Then why…you sounded so sure…"

"It was a test," Amity said, "I had to be absolutely certain that I was right. You were never a suspect, as far as I am concerned. Naoki, however…you know he is an accomplice. Admit it, Matsuda. I will have proof sooner or later. Tell me now, and save yourself the trouble of concealing another secret."

"I won't admit something that isn't true," Matsuda said, "Amity, he's innocent."

"I am sorry, Matsuda," Amity said, shaking her head, "But I do not believe you."


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Truth

Matsuda had finally persuaded Aizawa to let him go to the hospital to see Naoki, and the older man had even agreed to come with him, and Amity had decided that she would accompany them, for reasons she did not explain.

Sayu wasn't the only person who was worried about Matsuda…and Aizawa felt his concern intensify as he watched Matsuda. The young man had been quiet all day, but he seemed to have withdrawn even more now. Aizawa was starting to be suspicious. He had only left Amity and Matsuda alone for about fifteen minutes, but that would have been more than enough time for Amity to question him.

He reached over and turned on the radio, turning it up loud enough that he was fairly certain that Amity, who was in the back seat, would not overhear them.

"What did she say to you?" he asked.

Matsuda looked surprised.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"I left you alone with her," Aizawa said, "And when I got back, you looked like someone had hit you. _Did _she hit you?"

"Not…exactly," Matsuda said.

Aizawa waited, trying to suppress his feelings of anger toward Amity.

"She accused me of…being an accomplice…" Matsuda said, "Then, she told me it was just a test, and she never suspected me. She thinks that Naoki is working with Shinta. Aizawa, I know he's innocent. I was there."

Aizawa directed a glare in Amity's general direction.

"They're all alike, these geniuses," he growled, "They think they know everything, and they're willing to tear you apart to prove their point."

"She's trying to stop more people from dying…" Matsuda said.

"Matsuda," Aizawa said, "Stop defending her. She's just like the others, and the fact that you tend to be susceptible to females doesn't make her any different in the long run."

Matsuda sighed.

"At least she hasn't called me an idiot…yet."

* * *

Mogi had decided-completely against his own intentions-to go check on Callie. It wasn't like the girl to ask to stay home…but she had probably never been in a situation where she saw the aftermath of something as brutal as Naoki's shooting.

_"I'll just make sure she's okay. I won't stay long."_

He knocked, and, after a pause, he heard someone call from inside.

"Who is it?"

"It's Mogi," he said.

"It's unlocked. Come in."

_"She doesn't sound like herself at all," _Mogi thought as he pushed the door open.

Callie was sitting on the couch, staring at nothing, and biting her hair.

"Callie?" Mogi said softly.

The girl looked up.

"H-hi, Mogi," she said, "Why'd you come here?"

"I wanted to check on you," Mogi said, "Are you okay?"

Callie stared at her hands.

"No!" she said suddenly, "I'm not okay! I'm scared, and I'm never, ever scared, and…and…poor Naoki!"

The girl buried her face in her hands, shaking. Mogi did the only thing he could think to do. He sat down beside her, and wrapped his arm awkwardly around her thin shoulders.

"I never saw anything like that before," Callie sobbed, "I thought that only happened in the movies!"

"You knew what happened to Sayu's father and brother," Mogi said.

"That was different!" Callie said, "I didn't really know them very well-especially not Light-and I didn't see them all bleeding and hurt. It's different with somebody who's funny and nice like Naoki. It's…it's scary…"

She looked up at him, her green eyes wide.

"Are we all going to die, Mogi?" she whispered. "Is that all?"

"No," Mogi said firmly, "As long as I'm around, you are not going to die."

"B-but…I thought…" Callie said.

"Whatever you though, you thought wrong," Mogi said, "My job description should probably include protector of little girls."

"I am not a little girl!" Callie insisted.

_"You are to me," _Mogi thought, _"You're a little girl because you're like one little girl I used to know…and I'm going to keep you safe."_

But all he said was:

"That's more like it. See, it's all right."

* * *

When they arrived at the hospital, it didn't take long for Aizawa to track down someone who knew how Naoki was. A pretty young nurse led the trio to Naoki's room, commenting:

"He's doing surprisingly well. He woke up for a while today. I'll see if he's awake, and if he is, you can probably talk to him for a few minutes."

The nurse disappeared into a room for a moment, then popped back out, announcing that Naoki was awake and ready for company.

"But don't be too long, and don't worry him," she said, "He's a very sweet boy, and I'd rather you not make him have to stay here any longer than he has to."

With that, she bustled off, leaving Matsuda, Amity, and Aizawa behind.

Matsuda glanced at the others, then pushed open the door.

Naoki was most definitely awake, and he smiled as the group entered the room. However, he was very pale, and whenever he moved at all, he winced.

"Hey, guys," he said cautiously, "What's up?"

"Well, Matsuda was worried about you, so we had to reassure him that you would be just fine," Aizawa said.

Naoki blinked at Matsuda.

"You didn't tell them?"

_"O h, no, oh, no, oh, no…"_

"Didn't tell us what?" Aizawa asked.

Matsuda stared desperately at Naoki.

_"Come on, make up some excuse…"_

"He didn't tell you…" Naoki said quietly, "He didn't tell you I was a spy?"

* * *

Matsuda stared at Naoki, completely confused and horrified.

_"You idiot! Do you have any idea what Amity might do to you?"_

He had no time to think on it any further, because Aizawa had turned to him, his expression a mixture of anger and disbelief.

"Matsuda…is this true?"

Matsuda sighed. He didn't look at Aizawa. He knew how disappointed the older man would be.

"Yeah…yeah it's true… But he saved my life! I didn't lie about that!"

"Unbelievable," Aizawa muttered, "Matsuda…why would you lie about this? You know what this means, don't you? Even you can't be stupid enough not to realize that this makes him one of the people who killed Ide. Why would you lie about this?"

Matsuda took a deep breath. What he was about to say could either win Aizawa to his side, or make the other man incredibly angry.

"Wouldn't you have done the same if it was the other way around? Let's say that I had gotten killed, and Naoki, you, and Ide were still alive. If Ide, by some crazy chance, joined Shinta instead of Naoki? If he got shot saving your life, and you found out what he had done-that he had helped kill me-wouldn't you want to protect him anyways?"

Aizawa stared at him for a long moment. Then he sighed.

"You're right."

At that moment, someone stepped toward Matsuda. Then, he remembered.

_"Oh, no. Amity…"_


End file.
